Ascendance
by Akirameru
Summary: A kid does what's fun. In an orphanage full of children's books, someone with the ability to read at a touch - intentionally or not - develops quickly. A mundane birthday gift reveals his prodigious aptitude and draws attention. Potential recognized, he's shoved into the shinobi program at an extremely young age and it does wonders for his strange, game-like abilities. Gamer!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or The Gamer, nor any characters associated. I do not benefit from any source of revenue due to the writing of this story.

I recommend reading in dark mode!

**Note****(****01/2020): I'm now enlisted - working on that is what slowed the updates in the first place - and I won't be able to work on this anywhere or anymore within the foreseeable future. Sorry.**

**Chapter 1**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

For one Nonō Yakushi, captain of the Medic Corps and caretaker of Konoha's Orphanage, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi seemed, initially, rather plain. Ordinary, and everything like the rest of the babies he played and got along with. Naruto was one of hundreds of children who were deprived of parents by the Kyuubi and placed into the orphanage.

But as time passed and the children grew – as they do - the little blond accumulated a multitude of subtle differences to the other children. They were difficult to articulate, and Nonō hadn't tried to, but they were there. The subtle ways he would look at the other children, the caretakers, his toys, even the way he seemed to stare sometimes at the little children's books laying about, though no more than once a piece, which he had little business interpreting. She rarely heard him talk, maybe once or twice, but his words weren't as jumbled and confused as the other children his own age, even if they were simple.

The caretaker observed as the little blond toddler meandered over to a pair of slightly older children playing with blocks and stole the book one had dropped – a new one, she noticed. Nonō's career, before becoming a caretaker, has been as a medical ninja. She still did it part-time, and retained her position in doing so, so that she could put the money into the orphanage. The orphanage received funding, but there was never really enough for them all.

She watched as the toddler sat on his haunches and fumbled through the first page, before he began waving his arms like the silly child most of them were, paused, gave a look that seemed oddly introspective at nothing in particular, and put the book down before wandering off to do something else. Most of the children his age would've stared a bit harder at the printed writing, maybe butchered a sentence in mumbles, and then put the book away to play with the closest toy.

The way the little blond seemed to zone in on only books, particularly ones he hadn't looked at yet, was a bit odd, but not alarming. Plenty of children automatically liked the new toys more than the old ones – at least for a short time – because new things were interesting, and plenty of them liked one type of toy more than others. Still, it seemed out of place to Nonō nonetheless, and merely added to the pile of strange-ways the blond interacted with the world that the other children didn't quite follow.

She was bereft of an apprentice, always kept an eye out for another, and she had a feeling that when the blond was a few years older she might teach him a thing or two. The children the orphanage took care of were actively funnelled into the academy, and as a jinchuuriki, the blond was already slated to become a shinobi. Still, she might not.

He'd managed to zone in on a book a child of a similar age was already playing with, and they had a typical toddler scuffle wherein they waved their arms a bit and shouted angry sounds. Eventually the blond backed off, seeming content – which was an oddity, because he'd gotten no more than a touch of the book. The other toddler was fine with his decision.

Naruto Uzumaki was a strange child, which was saying something when the building was full of strange children.

«««»»»

For his fourth birthday, one of the caretakers let Naruto pick one small present. All the other orphans had the same opportunity afforded to them, but it was still a special, tough decision for the little blond to make. Most children picked lollies, or maybe a ball. Naruto though… he wanted a book, he knew that, he just hadn't decided what book. It was his birthday _today_, but he knew this caretaker would have it in his hands within no time.

The blonde caretaker, he called her Nonny, was the one patiently waiting for his answer. They were in the bedroom Naruto shared with several other orphans.

"You want a book, right?" she asked.

The newly minted four-year-old nodded. "Yeah… but what one?"

"I can get you a book about dinosaurs?"

"Nah, that's boring."

"What's not boring, then?"

The blond went back to silence. Too many things he didn't know about. With his… ability… books were worth their weight in gold, so he had to get the right one.

His little shoulders shrugged. "What's super important?"

Nonny cocked her head. "Super important for...?" her question, left unanswered, granted pause. "_Well_, you are going to be a ninja, aren't you?"

"M-maybe…" the blond muttered. He frowned, "I mean, ninja are cool right?"

"I'm a ninja," Nonny said. She held back a laugh, but not her smile, as the blond seemed in awe at her proclamation.

He nodded in thought. "So, you can do magic?"

"It's not rea-…. Yeah, I can do magic. Watch this," Naruto watched in anticipation as she held her hands forward, waved one vaguely in the direction of the other and a red line appeared across the palm. "Do you see this cut?"

"Doesn't that hurt?" he asked, "that magic is boring."

"Just keep watching," the four-year-old's expression turned to awe as the offending hand was enveloped in a soft, green aura. Real magic, there. Nonny waved the hand, this time slowly and more obviously, over the wound and the little blond watched as the wound sealed, leaving her palm unblemished.

"Wow, that's so cool!" he said, "can you teach me that?"

She smiled at his eagerness but shook her head. "That was a very advanced technique, you need to train a lot first, okay?" the little blond nodded solemnly, deflated. "…But my last apprentice managed to do it just a year older than you, so if you train very hard, I can teach you. Okay?"

"Yatta!"

"Have you decided what book you want yet?"

"Uh, what do ninja need to know? Can I get a book about magic?"

She scoffed at his terminology but acquiesced. "I can find you one of the books I used to teach my last apprentice. Is that okay?"

Naruto was very okay with learning magic, and had no problem waiting on his bed for the woman to return, which she did so quickly.

"Happy birthday," she handed the book towards the blond matter-of-factly, and he took it with reverence. With the practice born of a short and curious lifetime, the blond sought knowledge of his gift. Silver text swerved into his vision, with a rectangular light brown backdrop.

«**Introduction to Chakra and Control**»  
This book seeks to teach the reader the foundation of the shinobi arts.  
«Common»

Is chakra another word for magic, then?

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Observe [Lv.14]  
«Active»  
Provides the user with information about the target.  
No cost.

«EXP +50»

"Give it a read, and we can talk about unlocking your chakra when you're all done, okay?"

"Thank you! Is, uh… chakra like magic?"

"N-…yes. Chakra is the proper word for magic."

"Okay," the blond nodded. "I'll find you when I'm done."

"Sooner is better than later!" she said, leaving the room and presumably off to continue her primary duty of supervising the post-lunch toy rush.

Finally, the four-year-old grinned at the small, leather-bound and evidently well-used book. "_Read,_" he chanted.

To his eyes, the book glowed with a soft blue flourish. He shivered in excitement as the glow faded and he grinned ferociously at the results, even as his brain was flooded with information. Another storm of silver text swept into vision, his body flooded with the flush of a new energy, and renewed with clarity, he allowed himself to calm down as well as any four-year-old could. The surge of energy lessened, halted and receded until it slowly thrummed beneath the surface of his skin and he released a tension in his shoulders he hadn't noticed build.

«**Attribute Unlocked! [Chakra]**»

«**Intelligence +1!**»

«EXP +50»

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 3 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Chakra Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows use of chakra-related skills.  
This skill receives experience from use of all chakra-related skills.  
Reduces all chakra usage by 0.5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Chakra Enhancement [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Basic shinobi skill.  
The presence of unleashed chakra within the user strengthens their musculature.  
Increases Strength and Agility by 1%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Leaf Sticking Exercise [Lv.1]  
«Active»  
Adhesive chakra emanating from the chosen location allows you to stick to objects.  
This skill provides bonus experience to [Chakra Manipulation].  
Base cost: 5 CP/min. Cost reduced by 0.5%/Lv.

_Best gift ever_.

Naruto was immediately eager to practice his new magic, to prove himself to the caretaker so willing to teach him if he impressed them. With proficiency he shouldn't yet have, he fluently controlled chakra into his palm and watched, lifting his hand, as the front cover of the book stuck while the rest of the book hung limply. This kind of magic was a bit boring, but to the four-year-old it was still a cool new thing he'd have no problem doing repeatedly until he ran out of chakra.

«««»»»

In Naruto's room the next morning, Nonō was nonplussed.

"What do you-how do-_what?_ How did you even unlock your chakra?"

"I, uhm… I read the book?" Naruto said, tilting his head in confusion. What was so strange about that?

Nonō shook her head. "That's _not_ how these things work, Naruto." Chakra wasn't just something you _noticed_ when you read about it. The process of recognizing chakra as an entity for the first time, as a source of energy that one can control, is short, gruelling, and requires someone else to help you get it done. The only exceptions to the rule are very rare instances of early kekkei genkai activation, of which the blond didn't seem privileged to have.

The blond grumbled and pushed back in his bed to lean against the wall. "Well that's how _I_ work. I read the book and I'm using my chakra." He crossed his arms, "_you _said sooner is better than later!"

The caretaker smacked her forehead and leaned back to sit down on the carpeted floor. How do you explain to a four-year-old that you didn't _quite _mean it the way they interpreted it? It was so surreal that a child, especially one so young – he was only half the age of entry to the academy – could be so prodigious as to unlock their chakra from reading a _book_, and to be able to use said book to practice the leaf-sticking exercise so soon thereafter.

"Fine."

"H-huh? Fine what?"

"You're _very_ smart," she conceded, "very, _very_ smart, Naruto."

He grinned. "Thanks!"

Nonō sighed. The blond had no idea how incredible he was, but it would only be a waste of time to interrogate him. A four-year-old just didn't have any new and genius tricks up their sleeves, or really anything that hadn't been pondered a million times before by all the other children. Truly, he simply had to be _that_ freaking intelligent, even if he didn't show it.

She'd kind of known it too.

"Alright, come with me. We're going outside."

"Uhm, I'm not allowed out this early…"

"It's fine, you're with me."

"Okay!"

The blond smirked at the looks some of the other children sent him as he followed the caretaker through the large central rumpus room, where the kids gathered around their toys and played games while the caretakers organised breakfast. Nonny had him wait for a moment outside of her room, but didn't take long, and they made it outside in no time.

Konoha's orphanage sat isolated around the village's outskirts, surrounded by trees and meadow. Due to this, the orphanage itself was the only infrastructure visible to the orphans during the times they were allowed outside to play, and it kept them easily contained.

She brought the blond to a cluster of shrubbery beside a front of trees behind the orphanage and kneeled beside a shrub decorated with orange leaves and blooms of white petals, reminiscent of and named after snowballs.

"Sit down," she said. The boy quickly did so but shivered. It was cold this time of year; the trees were orange, the grass was decorated with fallen leaves, and he was only wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. "I'm going to show you the technique I used yesterday again, okay?"

"Okay."

"Watch closely." Nonō waved her hand with a flourish and one of the blooms of petals on the shrubbery broke apart, one half of it falling and disappearing among the foliage. Before the blond could ask how she did it without making contact, the same hand unleashed a small and well-controlled thrum of chakra, expelling and controlling a shifting green mass of skillfully neutralized chakra. The blond watched with wide eyes as she caressed the broken bloom of petals, and the stems seemed to come alive; throbbing, the shortened stems straightened and elongated, and from their tips grew new petals, identical to the ones the woman had decapitated.

"Woah, that's cool!" Naruto said, grinning. "You're gonna teach me, right?"

"We can try," she said. "Don't worry when you don't get it right away, nobody does, okay? This is an advanced technique." The caretaker wasn't about to let the blond learn this one by himself (not that it would be possible for a four-year-old to do), but less for his benefit and more for her own.

"Uh," the blond seemed oddly unsure at her proclamation, "okay. Do you have a book?"

She shook her head, "I have a scroll. You can look at it, and I'll try to explain what you don't understand, okay?"

The blond seemed a bit perplexed by the idea of learning from a scroll rather than a book, but he accepted it eagerly nonetheless, and the caretaker watched carefully as he unravelled it and followed his eyes as he glossed over the text and drawings on the scroll.

For Naruto, it was a more interesting experience.

«**Intelligence too low**»

He tried again.

«**Intelligence 25 required**»

This hadn't happened before. "Uhh…"

"What is it?"

"N-nothing." Maybe he could increase it? With a thought, a screen of silver text he'd looked at dozens of times over his life fluttered into vision.

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Orphan]  
«Level 3»  
EXP: 70/450  
Strength: 3(+0.06) [+]  
Agility: 5(+0.10) [+]  
Intelligence: 16 [+]  
Charisma: 4 [+]  
Chakra: 250(+250)  
Available Points: 15

He'd never used the points before, because he didn't think he needed to… he didn't know where the bonus on chakra came from (if it even was a bonus) – or why it was such a big number – but the bonus on strength and agility must be from that new [Chakra Enhancement] skill. The four-year-old decided the odd-look he was getting from his caretaker was getting uncomfortable, so he quickly spammed the [+] icon besides his Intelligence score and closed the interface with a thought.

«**Intelligence milestone!**»  
Intelligence: 25 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +1% (0% » 1%)!  
Increases all passive effects by 5%.

Huh. That was new, and kind of cool, but he was busy.

"Why are you poking the scroll? Do you need help understanding something?" Her reasoning was sound. The instructions – her own – were greatly simplified, but he was _four_, he should barely have a grasp on the language, never mind the new terminology. "Let me read it for you," she reached a hand forward to grasp the scroll, but the blond quickly stumbled backwards and away, keeping a firm grip on the paper.

"N-nah I'm fine, I think I got it."

"Huh?"

_Read_. The scroll glowed with a soft blue flourish, which the blond couldn't help but notice that the caretaker _didn't _notice.

«EXP +50»

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Mystical Palm Technique [Lv.1]  
«Active»  
The user neutralizes their own chakra and uses it as a catalyst to accelerate the recovery of the target.  
Base cost: 50 CP/min. Effectiveness: 15.85%.  
Increases effectiveness by +0.85%/Lv.

His hands itched slightly with pins and needles, and he shivered for a moment as his brain organised, scanned and reshuffled the deposit of information. It was rarely comfortable, but it always carried with it the positivity of learning new things, and as usual, his vocabulary grew just that much larger.

How good was 15%, though?

She politely ignored his odd fumbling. "If you're ready then, I'll show you how to do the hand-seals. Watch careful-"

"Nah I got it."

For one Nonō Yakushi, captain of the Medic Corps and caretaker of Konoha's Orphanage, the four-year-old jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi seemed, simply put, rather incredible. Completely in-ordinary, and nothing like the rest of the children he'd played and gotten along with. She watched with bated breath as he flawlessly, first attempt, seconds after reading her instructions and less than 24 hours after unlocking his chakra on his own, spun through two modified hand-seals and performed the A-ranked Mystical Palm Technique.

It seemed as effective as any new practitioner's as he vandalized the shrubbery and tried to restore it, which was not very, but it was executed well. It was by far the fastest she had ever seen an individual go from learning of a jutsu to using it correctly. It was surreal, and it took her several minutes to get out of her funk.

She calmed herself and stood. "Stop now, conserve your chakra. We're going on a trip." She created a pair of tangible clones and had one go back into the orphanage whilst another disappeared towards the village proper.

"Huh?" the blond said, cancelling the jutsu and straightening. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to visit someone important, okay?"

"Uh, okay."

**New Quest!  
**«**Visit the Hokage!**»  
You showed Nonō Yakushi astounding natural ability!  
She is taking you to visit the Hokage to discuss your aptitude.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Speak with Hiruzen Sarutobi  
2\. Keep your ability secret (**Optional**)  
3\. Ask about the academy (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**+EXP +? +?  
++EXP  
+?

He hadn't seen that before; all kinds of cool new things were happening.

"What's the hokage like?"

"Huh?"

«««»»»

«**Hiruzen Sarutobi**»  
Third Hokage and leader of the Sarutobi clan, Hiruzen Sarutobi is referred to world-wide as the Professor.  
Survivor of all three world wars and heralded as the God of Shinobi in his youth.  
His students are renowned as the Legendary Three Ninja.  
**Mood:** Relaxed, Curious

'_Cool_,' Naruto thought, more than a little bit impressed by the otherwise unimposing visage of the old man sitting behind the desk.

He followed Nonny haphazardly as she bowed before their great leader and the blond just kind of stood there watching awkwardly. He noticed this spot had a great view of the hokage-monument through the window.

"Greetings, Hokage-sama. I apologize for disrupting your morning," his caretaker intoned formally. She straightened as the old man waved a hand.

"You've interrupted nothing but paperwork, Ms. Yakushi." Naruto watched as the old man's gaze switched to his own and was caught off-guard by the warm expression the hokage's face shifted into. "I see you've brought little Naruto with you. I hope you enjoyed your birthday yesterday, child."

"Thank you!" The blond's smile split his face, he liked the old man already.

"What do you want of me, so early in the morning?" the old man asked, the question directed towards his caretaker.

Nonny moved a step closer to Naruto's side and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the blond to look up. She smiled down to him and placed her gaze back on to the old man. "I introduced Naruto Uzumaki-" she winked down to the blond, "-to chakra yesterday, for his birthday…" she tested her tongue, and brought her attention back to the child "and… well, could you show him what I just taught you, Naruto?"

The Hokage looked on, amused, as Naruto hesitated. Expecting the blond to show off his unlocked chakra at most, he was pleasantly surprised when the blond moved his hands together in the familiar motion to form seals.

"How long have you been teaching him to form hand-seals?"

"I haven't."

The old man grunted.

Naruto hesitated, licking his dry lips. '_Keep your ability secret_' was in there somewhere, and he wanted that reward. The care taker was making a big deal about it, it wouldn't cancel the quest, would it...?

"Go on," the caretaker urged, "the hokage is the last person that'll make fun of you if you don't get it right."

To hell with it. Naruto spun naturally through the two seals for the [Mystical Palm Technique] and the flow of green, neutralized chakra burst from the four-year-old's hand. To his caretaker's keen eyes, his control already seemed improved.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Mystical Palm Technique  
[Lv.1 » Lv.2]  
[Effectiveness: **15.85**% » Effectiveness **16.70**%]

«EXP +50»

He noticed the hokage tense up, tilt his head and squint in thought. Naruto was going to keep it up while the old man was still staring at his hand, but eventually his chakra was about to run out and he let the technique fizzle out into nothing.

"You say you unlocked his chakra yesterday, Ms. Yakushi?"

She shook her head. "The boy unlocked it on his own."

The hokage took it in stride. "Leave him with me, I may not return him to you." The man stood smoothly from his chair.

The caretaker bowed, "thank you for seeing me Hokage-sama." She squeezed Naruto's shoulder, catching his eye, "you'll be okay if you just do what he says." Naruto nodded, and watched as she left.

"Uzumaki…" the blond turned to see the old man directly in front of him, having apparently moved around the desk and across the room within the second he'd looked away.

The blond took an involuntary step back, "uh, hi."

Hiruzen thought nothing of it and kneeled to bring himself level with the four-year-old. "You wish to become a shinobi, like Ms. Yakushi or myself, correct?"

"I, uh, yeah," Naruto hesitated. Yeah, duh, but the question seemed much more serious coming from their supreme leader than the woman that made lunch. "You mean I'm going to the academy?"

The old man nodded. "That will be the first step to becoming a shinobi, yes. First, we have to get you lodgings a little bit closer to the academy. Do you think you can handle taking care of yourself?"

**Quest Complete!  
**«**Visit the Hokage!**»  
You showed Nonō Yakushi astounding natural ability!  
She took you to visit the Hokage.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Speak with Hiruzen Sarutobi [Complete]  
2\. Keep your ability secret [Complete]  
3\. Ask about the academy [Complete]  
**Rewards:  
**«EXP +200» «Apartment» «Ryo +2000»  
«EXP +500»  
New Class: Academy Student

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 4 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Class Upgrade!**»  
[Orphan » Academy Student]  
[Max Level [User/Skills]: **15** » Max Level [User/Skills]: **30**]

"Uh," the blond speed-read through the pop-ups and tried to remember what the old-man just said. "Yeah, if you can teach me."

«««»»»

Several weeks later saw the blond futilely rubbing his hands together in an effort to keep them warm. It was the first day of the new semester for academy students, winter was imminent, and crowds of children much larger than him kept him on his toes as he made his way to class. A chunin he didn't know was leading with a hand on the four-year-old's shoulder, but he didn't really need it. The academy is the same building that housed the hokage's office, after all. He'd been there before and he had a good memory.

He'd been getting glares – he had _no_ idea why – ever since meeting the hokage with his old caretaker, and the parents that saw him didn't let up. His small frame was helping hide him a bit, but not by much. He'd tried to ask the old man about it, but he wasn't allowed into his office; apparently the great leader of the village didn't have enough time to bow to the whims of all the children that wanted to ask him questions. It made sense, at least, but Naruto wanted to think the old man wouldn't mind if it was him – his caretaker managed to get a meeting, after all. Hard to get that across, though.

Thankfully, it was much warmer inside, and he was turned down the east wing before his guide stopped him beside a windowed wooden door.

"Remember this door. The teacher will be in soon, good luck kid." The chunin disappeared in a flutter of leaves, leaving the blond alone.

"Thanks," Naruto said, too little too late. He tried the door, and seeing it unlocked, he wandered in and took a seat at one of the many rows of desks. He chose one in the middle, not too close to the front and far from the back, and sat by the far-side wall. He wasn't the only one there, in fact there was a bunch of other children huddled together at the front of the room that he avoided. He'd previously discovered a bit of a disconnect between him and older children during his time in the orphanage and he wasn't eager to subject himself to that.

«««»»»

The first practice they taught in the academy was the leaf-sticking exercise. His sensei, a chubby chunin with a goatee, explained that the most effective way to weed out the shinobi from the civilians was to have the children unlock and apply their chakra as soon as possible. Due to this, the first two months of class were spent helping the students unlock use of their chakra, while those that managed to do it practiced until, eventually, the frustrated children that couldn't manage to do it were ultimately sent home, left to study a different trade.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Leaf Sticking Exercise  
[Lv.23 - Lv.24]  
[Cost reduction: **11.5**% » Cost reduction: **12**%]

«EXP +50»

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Chakra Manipulation  
[Lv.9 - Lv.10]  
[Universal cost reduction: **4.5**% » Universal cost reduction: **5**%]

«EXP +50»

…having already unlocked his chakra – which granted Naruto a satisfyingly surprised teacher, who had evidently been sceptical due to his age – Naruto spent the entirety of that time doing what they coined the 'Leaf Concentration Practice'. Naruto thought it just a glorified term for doing the leaf sticking exercise on the forehead, but it was meant to be useful for honing concentration.

«««»»»

The second practice they taught in the academy was taijutsu. This was, according to their sensei, because reflexes were 'best taught young'. Naruto absolutely had no problem with this; the last few months had been dedicated to math and language, which he didn't really like. The difference between memorizing kata and unlocking chakra were minimal – because it turned out that Naruto just didn't need to really expunge any effort.

All he needed was one of the mass-produced textbooks laying around the class.

«**Intelligence +1!**»

«EXP +50»

«**New Skill Acquired!**»**  
**Academy Taijutsu [Lv.1]  
«Stance» Allows use of Konoha's academy taught taijutsu style.  
Complete mastery bonus: +25% strength, +35% agility, 15% decrease in reaction time.  
Current mastery: 25%. Increases mastery by 5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Taijutsu Prowess [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Promotes general taijutsu proficiency.  
Level cannot exceed highest level stance. Increases stance bonuses by 2.5%/Lv.

The blond looked up from the scroll and followed along as the chunin lead the class outside. It was warm, announcing the return of spring, and it was as bright as ever. The grass crunched beneath their feet, but only for the minute it took for the class to move to and settle on a smooth patch of dirt.

"Line up, keep a bit of space between you," the chunin said, "then copy my stance and we'll go from there."

As he inspected the students, he nudged each one at least once – whether it be to re-position their feet, straighten their back, or adjust their grip.

Until he made it to Naruto, where he paused. "You know," he said quietly, "you remind me of someone else I taught, the class before last." He altered the blond's stance with a lot more precision than the others, as there was less to improve on.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Academy Taijutsu  
[Lv.1 » Lv.8]  
[Mastery: **25**% » Mastery: **60**%]

«EXP +350»

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 7 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

Well, that was awesome.

"Thanks, sensei!"

The man nodded and moved along but seemed more in thought.

«««»»»

Naruto thought he might be getting lonely.

His new apartment was nothing like the orphanage. There were no caretakers, so he had to make his own food (which was a whole new skill on its own) and bereft of all the other children to play with, moving out swiftly became a boring and monotonous experience.

He'd wake up, make breakfast, go to the academy, come home, maybe-

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Leaf Sticking Exercise  
[Lv.29 » Lv.30(**MAX**)]  
[Cost reduction: **14.5**% » Cost reduction: **15**%]

«EXP +50»

-train a skill or do some study, make dinner, go to bed and rinse and repeat. Training skills was boring, study was tedious, and he wasn't exactly motivated to do either. Originally, moving out and getting his own stuff was a huge novelty, it was super cool to suddenly be the one doing everything. The academy was going to keep him busy, and he'd learn some cool magic tricks.

Except, well. They didn't teach many techniques at the academy. He'd only learned taijutsu so far, and it'd been five months. There were only so many ways to keep himself amused by sticking a leaf to his face, and apparently, he just maxed it. The teacher was a nice guy, but he didn't really talk to the other kids because they didn't like him. That's what Naruto perceived from their few interactions, at least. He needed some change, something to aim for, maybe. It was at least something he should think about.

He was just getting himself comfortable in bed, when a hand clasped over his mouth and he felt a surge of chakra at the base of his skull.

**«««»»»**

**AN**: I have almost two more chapters written for this (this was an _old_ project I revived) and a great excel sheet, but I intended to write a bit more before posting anything. In the end, I didn't want to waste my time if nobody's still reading these, so here it is. Hope you like it! Leave a follow if you're interested in more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright,** so the response to the first chapter was _way _too good and heartwarming.

Next, FF removes much of my formatting and I painstakingly had to change a few things to accommodate it. Not cool, FF, but no real impact on the story.

Finally, apologies in advance for the slightly robotic nature Naruto has this chapter, but it's super temporary.

_Notice we don't use health bars here and there's no endurance statistic. All injuries have potential to kill, just as most injuries can be temporarily shrugged off with enough tenacity. No healing by sleeping, no death by being slapped 2500 times on the left leg._

**Chapter 2**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

He woke to the sound of jumping, shuffling and muttering. The blond was too groggy to translate anything noteworthy and resisted opening his eyes, shifting or shivering (though it was _really _cold, and he seriously wanted to rub the gunk from his eyes) until he knew exactly what was happening. He was draped across someone's chest, his head and arms hanging limply over their shoulder, and whoever was holding him was moving very quickly. He could feel the wind break against his back, and the way it ruffled his hair was kind of pleasant, but it made him feel even colder.

**New Quest!****  
**«**Escape!**»  
You've been kidnapped!  
Konoha's barrier team has sent a task-force, stall for time!  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Escape  
2\. Defeat the kidnappers (**Optional**)  
3\. Stall for time (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**+++EXP  
+? +? +EXP  
+?

So he was being kidnapped, awesome. He wasn't about to beat any actual shinobi, but he _had_ to escape, according to the quest. Naruto risked opening his eyes enough to use _Observe_ on the man carrying him. Thankfully, it worked even in the dark. As far as he could hear and see out of the corners of his eyes, they were travelling across the large trees generally present everywhere within the Land of Fire. That didn't help him grasp his location at all, and he didn't _ever_ remember seeing a map anyway.

«**?**»  
A shinobi dressed in simple garb.  
One of your kidnappers.  
Unknown affiliation.  
**Mood**: Confident

The observe text wasn't helpful at all. There really wasn't anything the blond could do, either. He wasn't a shinobi, he was barely any stronger than any other four-year-old, nevermind a trained adu-oh.

_Oh. _His mouth opened in an o-shape, but his carrier thankfully didn't notice.

With a thought, he _could_ increase his strength, but was it worth risking his life afterwards? There was no guarantee he'd stay alive even if he let them do what they wanted, so the blond bit the bullet and did it.

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Academy Student]  
«Level 7»  
EXP: 560/1050  
Strength: 30(+9.69)  
Agility: 6(+2.35)  
Intelligence: 27(+0.27)  
Charisma: 4  
Chakra: 860(+710)  
Available Points: 0

«**Strength milestone!**»  
Strength: 25 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +1% (0% » 1%)!  
Chakra increased by 50.

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Intelligence: 25 reached!  
Chakra increased by 100.  
Chakra regeneration increased by 1%/min.

He struggled not to move or make a sound as his insides began shifting uncomfortably. There was no pain, but there was _moving_ beneath his skin and it was indescribably unpleasant and irrefutably intense. As it eventually subsided – the boy barely but thankfully bit back the sigh of relief - he could feel tension in his limbs that hadn't been there beforehand, a tension begging to be flexed, begging him to simply stretch his arms or his legs. He could feel the difference; his strength had been what? Five or something? The improvement was massive, what would that level of difference do for his speed, or his intelligence?

There was a real reason to train, all of a sudden!

But he was busy being kidnapped! He hadn't the knowledge why, or even the time to figure it out - but all the more reason to get _out_. The blond was unfortunately in his pyjamas, a little blue flannelette set decorated with little yellow ducks, he may as well be naked for all the good it did him. The man carrying him – who thankfully hadn't noticed his lucid state yet – had an equipment pouch, but it was asking too much for him to be able to get close enough to steal something _and_ get something useful _and_ incapacitate the man with it without being intercepted.

He'd have to do it without a weapon, then. That was doable; if all he'd learned at the academy so far was taijutsu, then he wasn't in a spot to complain at that moment.

It'd been a full minute since he'd heard speaking – not that he managed to make out what any of them said – but he could see clearly enough that he was at the back of the procession, and that was enough for him to act.

The blond took a moment to psyche himself up. This was it. Time to go for broke.

Naruto abruptly leaned back and twisted around the waist, bringing an elbow with the momentum of his full upper body crushing down onto the man's neck. In his surprise, the man had no opportunity to so much as voice a sound and the two fell through the trees and down to the forest floor in a crumpled heap, the man softening the blond's fall with a crack that made the boy wince. The academy student quickly turned around and looked up at the other two – they hadn't noticed yet – a woman and a man in much the same non-descriptive garb as the man beneath him.

He had to ru-

«**Achievement!**»  
Punching above your own weight!**  
**You defeated someone significantly stronger than you, well done.  
+60% Reward

«**Kill**»  
«You received 7309 EXP»

"U-uhh…" he stuttered, looking down at the man's corpse. Did that mean-

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 8 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 9 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 10 reached]  
Attribute Points +10! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 11 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 12 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

What? That was- _no_! What?

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Academy Student]  
«Level 12»  
EXP: 1119/1800  
Strength: 30(+9.7) [+]  
Agility: 6(+2.4) [+]  
Intelligence: 27(+0.27) [+]  
Charisma: 4 [+]  
Chakra: 960(+810)  
Available Points: 30

"O-okay." He shivered, glanced up to the rest of his kidnappers and watched as they seemed to realize what had happened. Thankfully the foliage of the trees around them effectively hid him from their downwards gazes.

Now, he had two options; hide, or run. He _should_ hide, but… the blond stared hungrily at his attributes. Bringing strength from 4 to 30 made an enormous difference, what would happen if he dumped a full 30 points into agility? Would he become the fastest four-year-old _ever_? Maybe he needed some intelligence to counteract the urge, but at the moment his four-year-old mind couldn't even consider doing anything else. It sounded _awesome_.

So, he did it.

«**Agility milestone!**»  
Agility: 25 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +1% (0% » 1%)!  
Reaction time decreased by 1%.

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Agility: 25 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +1% (Str/Agi each 1% » 2%)!

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Academy Student]  
«Level 12»  
EXP: 1119/1800  
Strength: 30(+10)  
Agility: 36(+14.8)  
Intelligence: 27(+0.27)  
Charisma: 4  
Chakra: 960(+810)  
Available Points: 0

He didn't have the time to let himself adjust, so even as he could still feel the muscles all around his body shifting and changing shape, he leapt from his spot. He figured sprinting in the opposite direction to where the shinobi had been running was his only good option.

The distance he covered in that single first leap surprised him so much he yelped, barely able to stop himself from colliding with a tree he'd been nowhere close to. This had two effects; one, it caused a surge of adrenaline, and two; it alerted the other two shinobi to his absence. He didn't know who they were or why they were after him, but the moment he'd made the sound he was off on his feet because he didn't really want to find out.

«**Buff Applied**»  
[Adrenaline]  
For the rest of the fight:  
STR/AGI: +15%, Reaction time: -10%

Alright, that was clutch. The new speed was _really _fun too! The way the wind blew against his face, the way the scenery blitzed by, the shifting – it was a glancing touch, but his shoulder was bitten into by the blade of a kunai which had no problem parting the material of his pyjamas, exposing his shoulder and sending him tumbling until he righted himself. It was only a shallow cut and bleed for only moments before it clotted, but it left a fierce line of red over the exposed skin and grounded the four-year-old to reality. There had been nothing preventing his pursuers from using lethal force except his own hope that they actually needed him alive for something – whatever the hell that would be.

«**Debuff Applied**»  
[Poisoned]  
STR/AGI: -25%, Reaction time: +25%  
Chakra Regeneration halted, -1%/min.

"_Of course,_ they poison the freaking kunai, why wo-"

«**Debuff Removed**»  
[Poisoned]  
Removed by [?]

"-uh?" Something for later. The blond chanced a look behind him, still surging forward (he seriously hoped he was going the right way), but he couldn't see his pursuers – the foliage made it too difficult. He could _hear_ them, though, and it seemed like they were getting closer. That didn't make se- it must be because they were tree-hopping. He'd never done it before, and with the stakes so high he didn't want to risk trying it. If he couldn't outrun them, what _could_ he do? He got lucky with the man carrying him. Even with the new muscles he could still feel aching beneath the surface of his skin, he doubted he was the stronger; he was still four-years-old and what he did have he wasn't used to.

Evidently, he didn't have the speed advantage either, and he was tiny and weapon-less, so he had a huge reach disadvantage as well.

This time, he was keen to the whistling in his ears and he twisted with the reflexes born of skill reductions and parried the first of several projectiles with the side of his forearm, catching it with the other hand – it was a kunai. His forearm bled slightly, but nothing that would affect him. It was one of several kunai, which he reflexively parried with skill he shouldn't have-

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Parry [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Promotes reflexes and parrying efficiency while wielding a weapon.  
Reaction time: -0.5%/Lv. AGI bonus: +0.5%/Lv.

-but _skill_ he did, now have.

The sound of a footfall behind him, and the blond threw himself to the floor, barely avoided a downward slash to the back of the neck and kicked out at the shin of his attacker. The strength of his kick caught the woman by surprise, and she tripped. The blond saw the opening and acted on the reflex before he could consider the consequence. The kunai left his hand and soared through her neck, leaving the blond to watch the trail of blood and her fall with wide-eyes. Blood escaped the wound like a fountain, and she fell on top of him gurgling with the most shocked expression Naruto had ever had the displeasure of seeing.

«**Kill**»  
«You received 3623 EXP»

That was- _he didn't mean_-

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 13 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 14 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Chakra Milestone!**»  
Chakra: 1000 reached!  
Regeneration increased by 10%.

Footsteps. He tried to turn, but it was too sudden, and the woman too heavy. Before the blond could put up even a token resistance, he felt the cold steel of a blade and the skin of his neck tearing. He felt the taste of a disgustingly earthy, warm iron flood his taste buds. The man left just as it hit home to the four-year-old what had happened.

«**Debuff Applied**»  
[Dying]  
Uh… you're done, buddy.  
I hope you've made peace.

That's it, huh? Darn.

Lying beneath the larger corpse, he noticed that the grass actually felt quite nice on his back. It was damp, which meant it'd either rained – or more likely, he was lying in his own blood (or that of his second victim) – but it was a pleasant texture. There was a lack of tree-cover directly above him, which must've been why the woman chose to ambush him here, it made sense now. He'd never really just stopped and looked into the stars before. He could imagine now, why some people spent their entire lives gazing into the night sky, with their telescopes and their journals and their muffins.

More footsteps coming towards him, and he could kind of hear shouting, but their meaning escaped him. Something to do with him, maybe...? He wished, bizarrely, that there were subtitles. His hearing was getting fuzzy, and- hey, the sky was gone. He squinted. Who's that?

"_He's still alive!"_

Weird, he didn't remember visiting the zoo. The animals – was that a dog, or a mouse? – scurried around him, and he felt as a weight lifted from his chest. He was crowded, and he noticed a cat. He'd always wanted a cat… what were they doing? Why did he feel weightless all of a sudden?

That was a lot of meowing...

Silly little animals, he didn't need help. He was just…

…taking a nap…

«««»»»

The hospital seemed colder than usual for the medical personnel working in the emergency ward, not that it was ever really a jovial experience. On reflection, it may have something to do with the unerring gaze of their supreme leader, the third hokage. The jounin commander wasn't nearly as unnerving, but his presence provoked near as much notice.

…or, it could be that they were working on a four-year-old with a slit throat.

"Am I correct to assume," Nara Shikaku spoke, "that you want to put the jinchuuriki under surveillance?"

The older man beside him didn't deign to answer. Rather, he seemed focused on the blond in question, not batting an eye to the ongoing gruesome and in-depth reconstruction of the four-year-old's throat. His voice box thankfully wasn't scathed, but according to the surgeon's best-estimation he would still have issues breathing in the short-term, and a scar in the long-term.

It was more uncomfortable for the younger of the two, who looked away, as the boy's age drew an uncomfortable parallel to his own son.

"He's four," Hiruzen noted, apparently bemused.

The Nara nodded slowly, patiently waiting for the man to elaborate.

"He's four-years-old," he repeated, "and he killed two of his own kidnappers. At least one of which was at least skilled enough to evade our barrier, patrols, and kidnap our jinchuuriki from directly beneath our noses."

"…Hokage-sama," Shikaku said, "we've _never_ enlist-"

"Then perhaps it's about time, besides, he's rather mature for his age." The hokage chuckled good-naturedly, "did you know that he unlocked his chakra on his own on the day of his fourth birthday, or that he learned to perform the Mystical Palm Technique with some proficiency just the day after? I've looked, and there's glowing reports of his academic progress, so it is not out of the bounds of reason to assume that the graduation requirements are within his reach; we'd only be sooner approaching the inevitable."

The Nara nodded reluctantly, stowing the information and unable or unwilling to refute it. "But he _is_ four. He'll be traumatized from the incident."

The hokage waved off his concern. "We'll use it to motivate him."

"That hasn't been working out for Hiashi's child."

"Different circumstances." Hiruzen paused for a moment, stroking his goatee. "Kumo?"

"That would be my first assumption, they were en route to the Land of Hot Water."

The hokage nodded dismissively. "Who would _you_ have teach him?

"It would make sense to test his nature first," Shikaku muttered. "I couldn't give you any single answer off the top of my head except his godfather."

"Who is as busy as we are. I can think of one in particular who not only makes sense, but can make time."

"…ah, he would be a good choice."

«««»»»

_Ow._ His head ached, like a lot. Almost as much as… his neck? What happened? He went to bed, right? And then, he was kidnapped... but he got away?

Groggily, the blond reached a hand to his throat. A scar, which he followed with his finger, started halfway down one side of his neck and ended halfway down the other. The slant was slight, and the scar long – a deep slice. He was no medical professional, but he shouldn't have survived that.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking away his initial exhaustion, and a swarm of silver text greeted his blurry vision.

**Quest Complete!****  
**«**Escape!**»  
You were kidnapped!  
You barely survived and defeated two of your kidnappers.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Escape [Complete]  
2\. Defeat the kidnappers [2/3]  
3\. Stall for time [Failure]  
**Rewards:  
**«EXP +1500»  
«New Class: Genin» «Charisma +5» [Failure]  
[Failure]

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 15 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Class Upgrade!**»  
[Academy Student » Genin]  
[Max Level [User/Skills]: **30** » Max Level [User/Skills]: **45**]

He was a genin now? How did _that_ work?

"It's good to see you awake, Naruto."

"Eek?!" the blond threw himself away from the voice on reflex, managed to get himself tangled in hospital bed-sheets and fell in a mess on the floor. "…Ouch. Hey, I'm in the hospital!"

In that moment, the hokage naturally realized why they'd never graduated a four-year-old. Still, too little too late; and he _was_ rather accomplished as far as four-year-olds went. "I've taken the liberty of removing you from the academy."

"Is that why I'm a genin now?" the blond asked, painstakingly climbing back onto the bed and trying to tuck the bed-sheets back in.

It was rare that the conversation escaped him so easily, but the third felt that the subject had leapt one too many steps forward in one breath. He wouldn't go senile before Ōnoki, it was unbecoming.

"You are a genin now, yes," he instead affirmed. "I've ordered printed instructions from your teacher for you to learn the academy three, and I'll leave your headband here, but it will mean little until you've recovered enough to be discharged."

The blond nodded, that made sense. The jutsu would be cool too. He finally took a moment to look around once he'd settled back into a comfortable position against the over-sized pillow to his back. The room was plain, his was the only bed and the window to his right was left open, perhaps to keep it from getting stuffy. The walls were about as white as ever, and the room smelled sterile.

The blond frowned. "I don't like it here."

The old man chuckled, "nobody enjoys it. I'm sure you expect that I have questions for you?" the blond reluctantly nodded. "First, how many were in the group besides the two you incapacitated, and did you overhear anything incriminating? The tracks were inconsistent with…"

«««»»»

It was cool being a genin, he decided, besides the mini-interrogation with the third where he barely understood the man's terminology. He liked to think he had more complex thoughts than the other like-aged children, but he had plenty to learn. It had only been an hour since he was let out of the hospital, but there he was, sat in a wooden desk that was a bit too big for him, in the corner of the shinobi section of Konoha's library, doing what he did best.

There were a _lot_ of books in the library he was suddenly allowed access to. Of course, his best and most useful ability _read_ was making the most of it in a rather spectacular fashion. The sheer giddiness that had been radiating off of him for the past few minutes had him blushing in embarrassment whenever someone glanced over. The size of the pile of books on the table gave him many odd looks, but he didn't have it in him to care at that moment.

«**Intelligence +17!**»

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Earth Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into earth-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling earth-related skills by 5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Fire Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into fire-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling fire-related skills by 5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Water Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into water-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling water-related skills by 5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Lightning Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into lightning-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling lightning-related skills by 5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Wind Manipulation [Lv.1]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into wind-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling wind-related skills by 5%/Lv.

He found out it was very satisfying to read a slew of books at once and let the notifications build up. The problem with it, if it can be labelled as such, is that the initial surge of information and muscle memory left him with an intense and almost painful bout of pins and needles. There was something mystical about it, though, and the fact he could make little streams of fire on his fingertips now probably had something to do with that.

Next, well, the hokage told him the typical first step for a newly christened genin was to further advance their chakra control. As such, with _these_ two scrolls…

«**Intelligence +2!**»

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Tree Walking [Lv.1]  
«Active»  
Adhesive chakra emanating from the soles of your feet allows you to stick to solid surfaces.  
Use of this skill provides bonus experience to [Chakra Manipulation].  
Base cost: 10 CP/min. Cost reduced by 0.5%/Lv.

«**New Skill Acquired!**»  
Water Walking [Lv.1]  
«Active»  
Repulsive chakra emanating from the soles of your feet prevents you from falling through the surface of water.  
Use of this skill provides bonus experience to [Chakra Manipulation].  
Base cost: 20 CP/min. Cost reduced by 0.5%/Lv.

It occurred to him that tree-hopping probably required a certain level of expertise in tree walking, while walking on water sounded so amazing it was instantly his priority. Real magic right there.

That was it for the books useful to him in his clearance level. The blond raised a hand to the plate of metal decorating his forehead, and slowly fingered the metal leaf engraving. It was weird to consider that he was a ninja now. He really didn't feel any different, besides the ugly scar across his neck. He was unable to hide the scar with his shirt and he didn't have a jacket that would do it either, so he might have to get a face-mask or something. The thought of it on display made him a bit uncomfortable, but there it was, an ugly off-white. According to the doctor, it would fade into obscurity in a couple years anyway.

He snickered at the loose remnants of memories he had of the tail end of the incident, when he was lying there, certain he would die. In his oxygen deprived mind, he thought the Anbu were real animals. That would haunt him.

It was relaxing to consider it over with. Looking back, it was almost ironic the way it happened directly after his self-loathing at his perceived lack of fun. There were things to consider now, though.

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Genin]  
«Level 15»  
EXP: 392/2250  
Strength: 30(+10) [+]  
Agility: 36(+14.8) [+]  
Intelligence: 46(+0.34) [+]  
Charisma: 9 [+]  
Chakra: 1090(+940)  
Available Points: 15

He'd now experienced just what kind of impact his strange abilities made, and it was staggering enough that he wanted to keep it updated at all times. He had a real motivation now, as random as the failed (what did they even want him for?) kidnapping was. He'd been putting so little focus on his abilities that he didn't even notice the modification to an old one that was right there, at the top of the list. It was a skill he'd always had, at least since the first time he'd accidentally called open his skill list, but it didn't seem to do anything at the time.

? (Lv.?)  
«Special»  
Chakra modifier: +100%. Chakra regeneration +5%/min. Cures poisoning.

It didn't used to do anything, and he only noticed it recently because someone in class mentioned that he had a lot of chakra, so he'd decided to bother and figure out why. The curing poison bit was new, but he had experienced it first hand, so it wasn't a huge surprise. What could it even be? A bloodline, maybe?

Well, that wouldn't make sense, he was an orphan.

Anyway – he'd been putting so little focus on his abilities he kind of forgot what made him unique, in a way. He'd been getting fed up while trying to act like everyone else, but there's the thing, he's _not_. He's special in his own way, and he needed to take the reins and improve himself like only he could. That said, he put the rest of his points into strength, rounding it off at a clean and crisp base of 45 and left the library to go on home. He didn't need to actually check out with any of the books, naturally.

The hokage wanted him to visit tomorrow, and it'd been a long day, as the slowly subsiding shifting in his muscles attested to. Even though he'd gotten nothing but rest for the past week, he was _really_ missing his own bed right about now.

«««»»»

"A_ four-year-old_." The bland tone echoed within the hokage's office, adding to its irritability.

"Yes, Cat."

"That is unacceptable, Hokage-sama," the brown haired, cat-masked teenager bowed deeply. "I apologize, but the idea of training someone so young just…"

"…it seems like a waste of your abilities?"

"If I may be so crass, Hokage-sama. Yes."

The old man hummed, a mischievous glint overcame his eyes and he sighed distastefully. "You would turn down the possibility of burning your name into the annals of history?"

"I-I-" Cat hesitated. "I am more likely to-"

"You could have been the face behind the new generation, Cat. I am disappointed. I didn't think one year in Anbu would steal from you the impressive drive you once wielded. To turn down the opportunity to train the star of the new generation… unthinkable." The hokage sighed dramatically, "I suppose I will just have to find someone less qualifi-"

"_I'll do it_."

The timing was impeccable, for his secretary then knocked on the door.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here to see you."

"Send him in!" the hokage said. "Stand straight and hide the mask. You may remain within Anbu-" he ignored the teenager's pleased sigh of relief, "-but while teaching, you will be personable. You will go by Yamato for the foreseeable future, agreeable?" Yamato nodded, and the door to the office burst open before the power of a four-year-old that didn't quite know his own strength; the door clashed with the wall and the hinges audibly cracked.

It didn't break off, but "whoops," Naruto muttered. "Sorry."

"Be more careful," the third reprimanded, hiding his surprise at the strength that must've taken. "Come, meet your new sensei," he gestured to his side, where Yamato stood unerringly.

The pair watched as the blond curiously meandered closer, stopping halfway across the room. He gave the teenager an odd look.

"Isn't he in Anbu, though? Do animals make good teachers?"

The third observed as Yamato flinched at the perceived insult. 'Oh, Naruto…'

"I am the _best_ teacher," he said. "You would learn much under my tutelage."

"Oh yeah?" the blond asked, placing his hands on his hips. "Prove it."

Yamato crossed his arms. "You'll regret this. Let's go, now."

"Hey, _w__ait_-"

The hokage watched, pleasantly surprised, as his mokuton-user grabbed the blond and pulled him out of his office. That went about as well as it could have, all things considered. The two seemed to have some kind of synergy about them… but he'd really have to order them back soon, because he had the scrolls the blond needed for the academy jutsu. Ah, well, maybe later.

«««»»»

A few weeks later, and Naruto still shuddered whenever he woke up and remembered he had training that morning with Yamato-sensei. His injuries never lasted a good night's sleep, but that didn't make them painless. The occasional D-rank mission was more tame and lacked harm, but it was infinitely more boring.

Still, it was exactly what he wanted. The grind was intense and the training rewarding. Next time, he thought, he wouldn't need to run away from the fight.

**«««»»»**

**AN:**

**This brings us to canon!** Time-skip of 8 years between now and next chapter, buckle up. There _won't_ necessarily be a stats dump, and you'll get a look at what the twelve-year-old Naruto seems like from someone else's perspective in the middle of the next chapter, I thought it was interesting.

Updates on Fridays, my chapters tend to be about 4000 - 5000 words.

It was brought up in a review that most of these The Gamer crossovers end up as skill compendiums instead of stories, and that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. If I end up with several consecutive paragraphs or a flat wall of text just talking about experience, levels, attributes, etc. then I'd consider that a failed experiment, because I'm in this for the (I'm not a great writer, but) plot.


	3. Chapter 3

Awesome response to last chapter, made my week.

**Chapter 3**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

Naruto stepped back, the upper part of his arm catching the brunt of the powerful kick. He winced at the force behind the strike, but that wasn't going to stop him, and he leaned forward and lashed out with a strong right-handed jab. Yamato barely avoided it by leaning his head to the side and caught the blond's exposed wrist with his left. Yamato pulled him forward and struck with a punch to the jaw, sending the off-balance blond scrawled to the grass.

"Much better," the newly-minted captain declared, "but-"

The blond disappeared in a puff of smoke. Yamato, frowning, bent forwards, cleanly avoided an elbow to the back of the head and twisted around.

"I said no ninjut-"

The blond's elbow snapped into a knife-hand that Yamato had the wits to knock away with his right elbow. Seizing the opening, Yamato pushed forward with a lightning fast left jab into Naruto's solar plexus. Naruto just barely avoided it by twisting around the strike, continued into a spin and built up momen-

Yamato twisted and bent the arm, smashing an elbow into the blond's face before swiping his legs out from under him. Naruto caught himself with both arms and used the momentum of his fall to sling himself into a spinning heel kick. Yamato hopped back just enough to avoid it and let the blond launch back to his feet.

"Good enough," he said, crossing his arms. The man meant it to.

"Th-thanks sensei!" Naruto breathed, bent over with his hands on his knees.

«**Skill Level Up!**»**  
**Mixed Taijutsu [Lv.16]  
«Stance» Allows use and mixing of taijutsu styles and moves.  
«Skill Evolution Bonus: Learning other styles resets level, but increases mastery bonus»  
Complete mastery bonus: +35% strength, +42% agility, 18% decrease in reaction time.  
Current Mastery: **100**%*

The blond was glad to be done with training his taijutsu – at the rate they were going he wasn't going to have had the opportunity. It'd been what, eight years since he first picked up academy taijutsu?

"Your age group is being assigned tomorrow." Yamato's tone seemed normal enough, but with all the time they'd spent together Naruto could pick out the subtle undertone of 'sad Yamato' in the statement. They probably felt the same way about it.

"You're going back to Anbu full-time, right?" Naruto asked, awkwardly glancing to his feet and fiddling with his vest.

Yamato nodded. "With you off my hands…"

The issue with training with Yamato was a unique one. The man was important to the village for a multitude of reasons, some of which required his presence at the village more often than not. Due to this, even with eight years of tutelage, Naruto hadn't gone on more than a handful of missions. It was absolutely _great_ for training his skills- one of the first things the man did, after a short evaluation, was in fact to have the blond discover his primary chakra nature.

Wind Affinity  
«Passive»  
A natural disposition towards wind-oriented elemental chakra promotes efficiency and growth.  
Chakra cost of wind-related skills -50%. Wind-related skills experience +100%.

As such…

Wind Manipulation [Lv.53]  
«Passive»  
Allows conversion of basic chakra into wind-oriented elemental chakra.  
Increases rate of levelling wind-related skills by 5%/Lv. [Current: +265%]

Wind was easily his strongest nature, but he vaguely trained in the other ones too. The _problem_ with just mindlessly training is that he didn't really level up. Like at all. If he'd only been measuring his progress by his levelling, he would've been more than a bit disappointed after eight years.

**[Naruto Uzumaki]**  
[Chunin]  
«Level 39»  
EXP: 2266/5850  
Strength: 98(+131)  
Agility: 97(+141)  
Intelligence: 112(+9.5)  
Charisma: 36(+0.4)  
Chakra: 3330(+2880)  
Available Points: 0

…_but_ levelling the passives did, clearly, have absolutely amazing attribute bonuses that made it worth it, it only took an incredible time investment to do it. The most effective ones were _Chakra Enhancement_ and taijutsu, the latter of which he finally - after learning several styles (which was as easy as touching a scroll) and getting used to them - just maxed out. _Chakra Enhancement_ maxed out a couple years ago.

The most evident short-coming of the then four-year-old blond had originally been his reach; he had literally no chance of striking an adult in taijutsu (which made his success during the kidnapping years ago even more ludicrous – though he did get his throat sliced open, didn't he?) and as such, Yamato taught him the basics of kenjutsu. In his words, it was the easiest way to increase his melee engagement radius – but even now he still had the disadvantage while they were both using weapons. All Anbu learned kenjutsu, and though initially Yamato had only been a member of the Anbu for a year, it didn't prevent him from giving tips to a total amateur. _Parry_ evolved into _Kenjutsu_ as soon as he learned his first kata.

Kenjutsu [Lv.60(**MAX**)]  
«Passive»  
Promotes reflexes and parrying efficiency while wielding a bladed weapon.  
«Skill Evolution Bonus: Channeling chakra through weapons provides additional bonuses»  
Reaction time: -0.5%/Lv. AGI bonus: +0.5%/Lv.

They didn't train kenjutsu incredibly often, and what little they did train it had fallen off when he stopped improving a few years back. The lack of missions was a real hindrance, and it was really all that had him accepting the hokage's proposition. That, and while he'd become good friends with his sensei, he knew the man would prefer to use his time making the difference in an important mission, rather than training a brat.

The students this year had come up one person short of the three-man divisions, apparently. Usually they'd just move a graduate to other teams that had space, for example; a team that had lost a genin or two to either promotions or combat would usually pick up the extra. It was actually considered rather lucky if it happened to you, because you'd be guaranteed to have an experienced teacher and squad-mates. The hokage, however, offered to make a pass on that tradition, and to place Naruto with the rest of his age group. It would tidy up the numbers cleanly, theoretically boost a genin team a bit, and let him take missions more often. He wouldn't even really be out of place, and in fact the hokage's exact words were 'make some friends.'

"You're my friend, right sensei?" Naruto asked, straightening the navy shirt beneath his vest and rubbing his sore nose. That had been one hell of a nasty hit to the face.

"Perhaps," the man murmured. He seemed to be having a moment. "You're genjutsu detection is par. Your taijutsu is _good_," he stretched the word as if still unsure, the hard-ass. "Your ninjutsu is good, and your kenjutsu is okay."

"Uh, sensei?"

Yamato shook his head. "I'm just making sure we're done," he tilted his head, "you did well for your age."

"…Thank you," the blond smirked good-naturedly, "you too."

The man's jovial nature disappeared in an instant. "_What_ are you suggesting?" A shadowed countenance overtook the man, and Naruto realized he may have overstepped his bounds.

He stepped back quickly. "Uh, I'm just saying, sensei… you're kind of old now and..."

His fists clenched, and when Naruto focused clearly on his fingers, he thought he saw a thin trail of blood. "I have decades left to build my reputation, chunin."

"Look, I-I'm just saying, you're the same age as Kakashi, and the dude has a _full_ head of grey hair-"

"_Decades_!"

«««»»»

It was the last opportunity to reasonably reallocate students between the teams.

"Of class 2D, Team 7 and Team 10 are set in stone," the third announced. His office was almost empty by now, as the jounin that had once filled it had walked out one-by-one during the proceedings, as soon as their decisions were finalized. Class 2D was the final one. "Team 7 with the tried and true best and worst, and Team 10 with the Sarutobi, Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi tradition."

Six of the seven jounin still present quickly confirmed their selections and left the office, leaving it with one, who crossed her arms resolutely.

"…and we're left with two parts of an incomplete tracking team, Kurenai." The man gave the remaining kunoichi a sympathetic look.

She sighed. "I'll take Hinata as an apprentice." It was somewhat disappointing, as she truly wanted a team, unlike some of the jounin in particular. It left a foul taste in her mouth, but there was little to be done about it.

"I have a chunin," the third tested, "that is the same age as the graduates…"

Kurenai blinked dumbly. "To give me three?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, to give you three."

"It's not that I'm ungrateful, but who is it?"

«««»»»

With her closed fist a hairsbreadth from knocking, Kurenai steadied her breathing and relaxed her mind. It helped in quietening the maddening whirlwind of conflicted thoughts circulating throughout her conscience, but it was a fruitless effort and it all rushed back stronger than ever. She wanted to be grateful, but for _him?_

It quickly became a strenuous conversation after the third voiced the name of the _kyuubi jinchuuriki_. She didn't have it in her to simply reject the boy and change her mind, but right now she was seriously contemplating it. Kurenai could recall the night of the kyuubi's attack very clearly. She was fifteen, a chunin, and extremely willing to join the battle, but like the rest of her similarly-aged cohort, she was blocked from the fight. _By her father_. She never saw him again after that. The appearance of the kyuubi drastically changed her life.

It changed everyone's lives.

Thousands of people died, half the village was destroyed, and while she didn't lose any friends – they were mostly kept back, just like her – she'd lost many acquaintances and worst of all she lost what was left of her family. In the end, even the fox's capture was a great tragedy that required the ultimate sacrifice from their great war hero; their fourth hokage. Even his wife was not spared, his family one of many that perished within the night. Now, years later, the village still hadn't recovered, even in number, and the memories still kept some awake at night.

She was expected to teach _that_.

Intellectually, she knew that Naruto Uzumaki was a twelve-year-old boy. He was probably still in that phase where boys were beginning to act more combative and started seeking the illusion of maturity, brought by the onset of puberty, but were still unfortunately short and carried high pitched voices. The corners of her lips twitched. Twelve-year-old boys were odd creatures, she thought, but she couldn't let that colour her perspective.

If only it were that simple, but he wasn't even a regular twelve-year-old _disregarding_ the kyuubi. The boy was already a chunin, at least a year earlier than she was (at thirteen - she didn't actually know when the jinchuuriki was promoted), and it takes a particular kind of person to get an early promotion. The kind of person that carried baggage, that had a reason to push themselves forward, a tangible drive.

Except, he was supposedly unaware of his status as jinchuuriki, even now.

Really, Kurenai didn't know what to make of the boy, but she should meet him before she rejects the formation of the team and that was the _entire reason she was here and thinking about all of this!_ She rolled her eyes, she'd done things that were significantly more dangerous on the spur of a moment than what was she doing now.

With that burst of confidence, she pulled her fist back and knocked on the door. This time, without stopping halfway. Three times for good measure.

She was both surprised and annoyed with the quick reaction. It wasn't so much her hearing a footfall or even the opening of the door, no. It was a slight wavering in her chakra – normally undetectable, but she was extremely intimate with the manipulation of chakra as a master of genjutsu – indicative of what she'd guess to be sensory ninjutsu. It was a surprise the kid – she presumed the kid did it – could do one reactively in such little time, but it was annoying simply because she didn't expect it.

By the time she got over it, she heard the unmistakable screech of a chair being pushed back along wooden flooring, and surprisingly audible footfalls toward the door.

She took her last chance to calm down her beating heart. When did she get so nervous? Seriously, the kid's just twelve, he'd love to have a sensei. She shook her head and abruptly straightened when the door swung open.

"Yo, Kurenai right?"

"Ah?"

Kurenai might've been staring, but she was instantly put off by his figure. He was already her height – honestly, she was pretty short but at _twelve? –_ and his figure was infinitely more developed than she was expecting. She'd seen the kids in Hinata's class – shinobi-in-training or not, they were mostly pretty scrawny still. The _kid_, if that still held, had muscles that would look utterly normal on a jounin. He wasn't really that big, but when she was expecting short and scrawny, it was in comparison. Well, at least the vest wouldn't look ridiculous on him, wherever it happened to be. She'd always refused to wear hers because it didn't really fit her figure.

"You alive in there?" he'd risen an eyebrow, but all Kurenai caught in his words was the utter disinterest. She might just be conflating boredom, but she expected more of a response than… that.

Defaulting to her regular greetings in the face of an oddity, she lightly bowed her head and introduced herself.

"I am Kurenai Yuhi, jounin, and sensei of team eight come this time tomorrow." It would be best not to voice that she was still deciding whether or not to take a team based on whether or not she thought she could stand him.

"…right." It occurred to her suddenly that he'd already known her name, and that her introduction was then a bit pointless. "Well, I'm sure you _already know_," he said it jokingly, and she winced, "but I'm Naruto Uzumaki, chunin and team 8 hopeful."

"Hopeful?" she asked before she could stop herself.

He tilted his head and his sky-blue gaze somehow seemed piercing, like he was learning about her – or rather, already knew her – merely by staring into her eyes.

"Yep," he nodded, "come in." With a wave of his hand, he left the doorway and Kurenai hurried to follow before she lost herself. Noticing the rack by the entrance and that the boy was barefoot, she quickly slipped off her shoes. She glanced back to her potential student and couldn't help but admire the confidence in his gait. He sure seemed comfortable in his posture.

"You _are_ twelve?"

The blond paused and shot her an odd look. "Uh, yeah? Last I checked, my birthday was in October."

...That's right, it happened in October.

The hallway fell to the beginnings of the lounge, a small room connected to an equally small kitchen separated by its tiling. A square table sat on the border of the two rooms, small but with two chairs on each the close and far sides of the table. The lounge only contained a cheap couch and a short coffee table, littered with several dozen books, stacked neatly. The kitchen was disappointingly ordinary, and two doors separated the lounge from what she assumed would be a bedroom and a bathroom.

The big scary image she'd conjured of a demon in the shape of a twelve-year-old fled from her quicker than she could sit down when he pulled back a chair and offered her a seat. She sat down dully, out of her element, and only watched impassively as he collected what seemed to be a mess of his chunin vest and some metal plating from the table and stored it in a cabinet under the sink.

"Want something to drink?"

She shook her head, and he didn't even bother shrugging before pulling back his own chair on the other side of the table and taking his seat. He leaned forward, prompting her to do the same, and tilted his head, giving her a curious but knowing look.

"What are you here for?"

He was intense but seemed patient enough that Kurenai was comfortable closing her eyes for a second, in an effort to regain her earlier confidence.

She already knew she was okay with this, now. He wouldn't be holding her back, and she'd already had to remind herself he was the jinchuuriki twice. It wasn't obvious. He didn't seem like some angry – or worse, abused – teenager… _preteen_, she reiterated, even if she didn't quite believe it by looking at him. She would be okay with linking some of his appearance with a thirteen-year-old who had gone through puberty a couple years early, but the musculature-

Oh. The fox. There's no way this had nothing to do with the fox. She didn't know what kind of benefit containing an immeasurably powerful entity comprised entirely of corrupted life-force would bring to a jinchuuriki, but at least one facet seemed obvious.

She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes with her offhand when she realized she'd been staring into nothing for the past half a minute, only to meet the gaze of a horribly amused chunin. It was strange, but the blond had some sort of comforting glow about him – she quickly double checked – and it definitely wasn't a genjutsu. It couldn't just be his confidence she's feeling, could it…?

"Yes," she muttered, "that. I wanted to see you before meeting with the team in full, tomorrow."

"Why me?" he asked, a hint of curiosity – not at the answer, Kurenai was struck with the thought, but she felt he was more interested in why the answer was the answer. She quickly shook that off, she was getting antsy and though she'd only been in the home for a minute she was eager to leave.

"I was unsure," she answered smoothly, giving a crooked smile. "But nothing's changed, training ground thirteen at eleven hundred hours."

Kurenai quickly pushed back against her chair and stood, feeling his gaze and despite knowing that it was improper to leave so quickly with so little said, she turned and left the room.

She slipped on her footwear and her hand paused a hairsbreadth from the handle. For a moment, she reminisced over the time hardly a minute earlier when she'd done the very same with a very different attitude, when she heard a foot fall vaguely behind her.

"One second, Kurenai."

She turned her head, acknowledging his words but not eager to turn away from the door.

"Think about it like this, yeah? Hinata will be much safer if I'm in the team too. Think on it, and don't be so nervous tomorrow, you're making _me_ nervous."

Kurenai froze. How did he-

He looked through her so easily, she _knew_ she didn't mention any of that at all and she knew that she was _very_ good at hiding her nerves. Wearing a tight frown, the woman closed her hand over the door knob and turned, leaving quickly and shutting the door just as quickly.

Left behind, Naruto shook his head and tapped on the reward pop-up.

«««»»»

It had rained overnight, and the grass of the training ground crunched pleasantly beneath Naruto's sandals as he stifled a yawn. He'd taken his mindless grinding into the early hours of the morning again. Training ground thirteen was plain and boring, but that had its own charm. It was lightly forested, but you had as much a chance of walking into a tree as you did to trip over a blade of grass. Most training grounds were about the same size, and he couldn't say this one was notable in any way.

He would probably be waiting a few minutes, but that just gave him time to sit down and wake up. Eyeing the moist grass distastefully, he picked a wide enough tree and waved an arm.

With his unnatural ability, he didn't necessarily need to know how to mould his chakra. If he wanted a jutsu to happen and he had the skill for it, he just lost a little chakra and it happened. It was probably- no, _definitely_ unfair to those that not only had to learn the long and hard way, but also had to focus each and every time they used what they had learned. Naruto just couldn't relate.

Another wave of the hand, and the tree toppled away from him. The falling trunk croaked a ghastly sound as it fell and let loose a bang as it hit the ground, but the blond was more interested in the freshly cut seat and plopped himself down. If he knew his ability at all after twelve years, then a good time for a quest would be just about…

**New Quest!****  
**«**Team 8 [1]**»  
Team 8 is officially founded!  
Act in your authority and don't be foolish.  
Complete missions to standard.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Complete 15 D-rank Missions  
2\. Become friends with your teammates (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**+Exp  
+? +? +?

"Oh," he muttered, reaching up and cracking his knuckles. He leaned back with his hands behind his head and let his gaze drift to the clouds. The tag on the quest name meant it was part of a series, and he'd only had one of those so far, with Yamato… it took years to go through all of them and it gave him the bulk of his levels since making genin. It was definitely a good sign, but he wasn't particularly interested in doing any D-ranks.

Act in his authority, huh? Maybe he didn't need to…

He heard their footsteps and the dredges of conversation before he saw them. He sat up and turned towards the sounds and observed his team as soon as he could.

«**Kurenai Yuhi**»  
Renowned in the Leaf as a budding genjutsu prodigy.  
Orphaned as a chunin, but now a jounin seeking to teach.  
She's still worried you'll blow something up.  
**Mood:** Relieved, Hopeful, Guarded

Her flavour text was different yesterday, having mentioned a girl named Hinata and doubts about the team – him in particular. He had no idea what she was worrying about – did he have a reputation for blowing things up? - but it was always interesting to Naruto to see the _Observe_ text of a person change. He moved his gaze to the taller of the two genin.

«**Shino Aburame**»  
Heir to the Aburame clan.  
A prodigy, he turned down an invitation to ANBU as a child.  
He wants to meet you.  
**Mood:** Curious, Content

He didn't know either of the genin at all, not even in passing, and took a moment to absorb that one of his teammates was an heir to a major clan. Hopefully that didn't mean he couldn't laze around during D-ranks and order them to do it. Hours spent doing chores was hours he could instead spend sitting there and grinding jutsu and _Chakra Control_. On reflection, grinding during chores wasn't impossible, but – probably due to his ability – he had always been pretty lazy. There was a difference between doing manual labour and letting his abilities work themselves over.

His gaze shifted to the shortest of the group, a petite girl with dark blue hair who he'd immediately been able to identify as a Hyuuga by the eyes.

«**Hinata Hyuuga**»  
Heir to the Hyuuga clan.  
She might lose her status to her younger sister,  
due to her poor confidence.  
**Mood:** Nervous, Happy, Curious

A tight frown settled over his jaw and he worked his mind through the situation he found himself in. The genin – about the same age as him but presumably less experienced – were both clan heirs, though he found it almost strange that they were both the same age. Was that planned? Sounded like the beginnings of a betrothal contract to him.

He's rambling in his own head now, great.

Was he supposed to bow his head and pretend they weren't in a military organisation and that he was higher ranked? He'd never met a clan heir, nor a clan head, nor did he have any reason to. What was the proper etiquette in addressing them?

He almost missed the way the small group paused in front of him and stole glances at the fallen tree beside him, but he didn't miss Kurenai nudging the genin forward. He watched in pleasant surprise as the genin both paused in front of him and bowed their heads.

"We're in your care, Uzumaki-san."

The corners of his lips twitched upwards and he stood, hands on his hips.

"It's nice to meet you! Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga, right?"

The blond grinned cheekily as the two looked slightly confused and glanced back to the jounin, who shrugged with a blank look. She must've instructed them to introduce themselves, and that was so terribly reminiscent of yesterday that he couldn't keep the smirk off his face.

"Well, I'm sure you know this already-" his eyes darted to Kurenai's and he gave her a wink, "but I'm Naruto Uzumaki, chunin, and your new teammate." He bowed his head lightly, more like a nod than anything, "and you don't need to be nervous around me. Looking at you, Hinata."

The girl moved back a step and the three straightened, Naruto and the genin turning to face Kurenai. It was good to know that their status as heirs seemed, so far, that it would be inconsequential. He let himself calm down and crossed his arms, intent to listen to Kurenai alongside the genin, as is her superiority.

"Usually," Kurenai began softly, her voice a whim of the wind, "a genin team begins with a test, to determine if they're worth the jounin's time. If they fail, they're without a teacher but still a genin. If they pass, they and the jounin become a team." The woman gave Naruto a pointed look.

"We aren't doing that, and I'm sure you can figure out why." She gave Hinata a friendly smile and Shino a nod. "You two are lucky Naruto volunteered, but it won't change our training. Being a shinobi is tough, and you'll find yourselves tested to your limits…"

Kurenai droned on while Hinata and Shino listened intently, but Naruto ignored her speech. Not necessarily because he'd heard it before, or that it bored him, but… instead, he scratched his chin and gave the sudden popup in front of him an odd look.

**Ascension [1]****  
**«**The Forbidden Scroll**»  
A traitorous chunin has accepted work from Orochimaru.  
Tonight, he will steal the forbidden scroll.  
Intercept him past the west gate.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Assist Mizuki (**Optional**)  
2\. Kill Mizuki (**Optional**)  
3\. Detain Mizuki (**Optional**)  
4\. Steal the scroll for yourself (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**+?

…there were several things wrong with that pop-up.

**«««»»»**

**AN: **I'm publishing a new story with the stats and skills and _all _of that next week, when I post chapter 4. This is because chapter 4 finally introduces other people's stats, so there's actually something to compare the numbers to. He's pretty strong and it'll make more sense that way. Beside that, posting the stats in _this_ story would pad the word-count very unnecessarily.

Every time I came back to this chapter to re-read it and edit it, I made him just a bit stronger, more and more, until I reached the point where I was comfortable with his ability after eight years of training with an utterly broken ability.

Next chapter next friday, as usual.

**Edit**: In case you're curious, current progress on chapters is always listed and kept updated on my profile. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN**: I like the speculation in the reviews, good guesses.

**Chapter 4**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

The rest of the meeting passed by quickly after that. The members of team 8 introduced themselves in more detail and gave a basic description of their skill-set, before Kurenai let them break off and set them to meet again the next morning.

After dodging a curious Shino, Naruto spent the afternoon trying to find the so-called 'Mizuki', only to stop once _Observe_ hit another level up and he realized he'd wasted enough time. It was a bit annoying, but he ended up signing out of the village for the afternoon and leaning against a tree in the thick of the woods west of the village to wait it out. The village was reasonably restrictive on allowing shinobi outside of it for a reason as bland as 'training', but as long as he was back within the month there wouldn't be any search teams. He wouldn't be a day.

He sighed, eye twitching, arms crossed and fingers tapping his arms. One hand empty, the other held a kunai; it was a habit he'd picked up to retain the passive bonuses of the _Kenjutsu_ skill.

This was _such_ a waste of time, it was already dark out, and the light pitter-patter of rain only served to sour his mood further. Rain totally ruined his hair, and the Land of Fire rained way too much lately.

He could be grinding right n-

_Snap_.

Naruto realized belatedly that he should've leaned against the tree from the other side, when someone dashed into view scarcely an arm-length away. The huge scroll wrapped to the man's back told the blond all he needed to know.

His perception of time slowed notably, a side-effect of focusing with his improved reaction time. The man's silver head of hair turned slowly, eyes portraying confusion, and Naruto smirked. Within barely a moment of real time, he twisted and snapped a kick against the man's ankle, sending him sprawling, staining the man's standard-issue chunin outfit and covering his front in mud.

"Whoops," Naruto muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. A line of dirt had splashed on the inordinately expensive scroll fastened to the man's back, and he had the good grace to know that wasn't fantastic. Now that he had his culprit in front of him, struggling to his feet, Naruto took a moment to do what he'd been looking to do that entire afternoon.

«**Mizuki**»  
An unskilled chunin with high ambition,  
he was easily convinced by Orochimaru's promise of power.  
He suspects you're stronger than him, but has a plan.  
**Mood:** Angry, impatient, confused

The blond frowned, that was foreboding.

"H-hey, Naruto, right? Heh…" Mizuki stumbled upright, facing him and inching away. "What are you doing here, kid? I don't know why you tripped me, but-"

He waved off Mizuki's words, cutting him short, and stepped forward. "Hey Mizuki, that's the infamous scroll of seals you're carrying, isn't it?" He illustrated the question with his pointer finger, and Mizuki managed to make himself look even smaller. The man seemed surprised that he knew his name, but he resolutely shook his head. Mizuki wanted to make an excuse, but he could read the situation and Naruto clearly knew what was going on.

He tensed as Mizuki reached a hand back, not grabbing the fuma-shuriken beneath the scroll but keeping his hand ready beside it. "You don't know why, do you?"

Naruto's tilted head spurred him on.

"Why they hate you," Mizuki reiterated, "have you never stopped and thought about it? Never questioned why _everyone_ hates your guts, kid?"

He hummed, content to let the man speak but not to let his guard down. It was true, he'd thought about it. Yamato-sensei had given him an odd look when he'd asked, and he hadn't bothered after that. In fact, he should still be able to find the quest…

«**What's in your gut?**»  
Ever since the day of your birth, you have been hated.  
Everyone, it seems, knows why except you.  
**Requirement:  
**1\. Discover why the older generation holds contempt for you.  
**Reward:  
**+?

He never did figure out what the title was referring to. Whatever its meaning is, it had completely evaded him.

"Have you never wondered why nobody has told you? Just why you don't know? It's an _S-rank_ secret, told on pain of death!" Mizuki inched further and further away as he spoke, provoking a tight frown. The blond absorbed the knowledge with a sprinkling of salt but wouldn't let it distract him.

'Does he think I'm blind?' Naruto wondered, eyes watching his movements keenly. He would wait to see if Mizuki would let him complete a second quest today before he swept up the first.

The traitor chuckled languidly, adjusting his posture, and he pulled the shuriken from his back. Naruto tensed, but he merely spun it about his hand.

"What's it like being the kyuubi, kid?"

It was his confusion more than his shock that had Naruto reacting almost too slowly to duck out of the way of the over-sized throwing star. "The what now?"

The miss made the man irritated, but he bore through it. "The kyuubi, the great nine-tailed demon fox! It's sealed in your gut, playing your body like a fiddle! _That's why we hate you!_"

"While that's… interesting information," Naruto admitted, taking it and locking it down for later, "is that all you had to stop me?"

The man growled, but his bravado was kept in check as he forced himself to leap back while Naruto advanced.

"Orochimaru didn't give you _anything_? You're just another one of those sacrificial pawns I keep hearing about on TV, huh? I swear, everyone and their mother seems to have a few, but I don't." He scratched his chin with his off-hand, not entirely serious but not really joking.

Mizuki leapt forward with a yell. Clearly, mentioning Orochimaru was a no-go, but that was why he'd said it. Someone as nasty as Orochimaru apparently was probably would've killed Mizuki for revealing his involvement anyway.

If Naruto were just any twelve-year-old ninja-wanna-be, Mizuki's frenzied last-ditch effort would've equated to his death. But then, he wouldn't have found himself in that situation. As it was, he had trained for eight years with a powerful shinobi that knew his tricks and how to counter them. Mizuki was not powerful nor did he know how strong the blond was. He'd been taught that any opening should and would be used to end a fight, and while holding back was the worst possible thing anyone could do, using jutsu that he didn't need to use was a waste.

So he stood and calmly let Mizuki approach.

With a thought, the kunai he held started sparkling with the tell-tale signs of lightning chakra. He'd tested all five natures, and the reaction time bonuses on lightning was the one he decided was important enough to level up back in the day.

The older man was taller and had longer reach, but that meant nothing when Naruto had all of the time in the world to duck his opener, and he smashed his fist into the man's solar plexus with far more force. Stunned and knocked off his feet, Mizuki had no chance to avoid the kunai Naruto tore through his neck with the other hand, crackling harshly with electricity.

He hit the ground dead.

Naruto wasn't worried about executing Mizuki without being explicitly told he could, not when the man had stolen the scroll of seals, apparently revealed an S-class secret, and attacked him.

He tossed the kunai aside and turned the rapidly cooling corpse. After an oddly introspective moment spent watching the rain spread and dilute the growing splash of blood, he stole the scroll from its harness and gave the big thing a twirl. Now he just had to-

_He immediately fell to his knees with the worst headache he had ever experienced._

"_What the _fuck!" he groaned, dropping the scroll to the wayside and clenching his hair painfully. He ached. His voice ached, his head _ached_, his hands ached with an extremely painful bout of pins and needles, and-

He knew those symptoms.

Shakily, he opened his blurry eyes, face extremely pale, and glared at the hundreds of text-boxes clouding his vision.

«**Skill Evolved!**»  
[Read(**MAX**)] » [Study(Lv.1)]  
«Active»  
The Gamer's first skill.  
«Skill Evolution Bonus: Promotes greater memory retention.»  
No cost.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Study  
[Lv.1 » Lv.60(**MAX**)]

«EXP +2950»

«**Intelligence +50!**»

«**Intelligence milestone!**»  
Intelligence: 150 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 10%(8.5% » 18.5%)!  
Increases all passive effects by 5%(15% » 20%)!

He quickly acted to minimize the rest with a global command before he groaned with a heavy frustration. He stared, defeated, at the scroll by his side… which he'd accidentally _read_.

"_Shit_…" he smacked his forehead, swore several more times, and slowly sifted through the pop-ups to get through to the ones that were of immediate importance. That he was on his knees in the mud was ignored and forgotten.

«**Kill**»  
«You received 732 EXP»

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 40 reached]  
Attribute Points +10! CHK increase!

**Quest Complete!  
**«**What's in your gut?**»  
Well, that's unique.  
There's a fox in your gullet.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Discover why the older generation holds contempt for you. [Complete]  
**Reward:  
**[Skill Identification]

«**Skill Identified!**»  
[?] » [Kyuubi Jinchuuriki]  
«Special»  
The nine-tailed demon fox is sealed in your stomach.  
Chakra modifier: 100%. Chakra regeneration 5%/min. Cures poisoning.  
Promotes growth. Promotes healing. Unlocks Mindscape.

There was so much crap to sift through now, and it was late, and he was tired and wet and annoyed and he had to take the scroll back to the village and… Feeling hollow, he picked the scroll up. He somewhat shook off some of the mud both from his legs and the scroll, and watched, further annoyed, as _another_ pop-up streamed in alight in unusually gold letters, the background silver. If he wasn't so suddenly aggravated, he might have been excited to read it, but he was not.

**Ascension [1]  
**«Complete!»  
«**The Forbidden Scroll**»  
You luckily intercepted the chunin, killed him,  
and read the scroll.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Assist Mizuki [-]  
2\. Kill Mizuki [Complete]  
3\. Detain Mizuki [-]  
4\. Steal the scroll for yourself [Complete]  
**Rewards:  
**2\. «EXP +2500»  
4\. «Skill Evolution [Observe]»

He clicked his tongue. The reward for 'stealing' the scroll (he'd be kicking himself for that one for a long, long time) sounded potentially incredible, enough that it actually alleviated part of his urge to smack himself. He quickly sorted through the pop-ups, only briefly glancing at the titles, until he found what he was looking for.

«**Special Skill Evolved!**»  
[Observe(**MAX**)] » [Examine(**MAX**)]  
«Active»  
Provides the user with information about the target.  
«Skill Evolution Bonus: Provides approximate statistics of a target»  
No cost.

His frustration was shoved aside. Even as annoyed, dirty and wet as he was, he was absolutely psyched, mind blazing with the possibilities evoked by finally being able to compare his own numbers to the numbers of others. He had more than one reason to see the hokage, all of a sudden.

«««»»»

Naruto realized he probably made for a foreboding sight, with Mizuki's corpse over his shoulder – held by his left arm – and the large scroll of seals in his right hand. At least, it would explain why he was unaccosted on his way back through the gates and into the village proper. While giving him charged looks of surprise, the guards nonetheless allowed him through the hokage's tower and into his office, despite the time of day.

The doors closed quietly, Naruto thankful that one of the guards from the other side was mindful enough to do it for him. He still hadn't figured out how much force to apply to the large doors set in the hokage's office to open or close them properly, and he momentarily reminisced over an event a year ago where they snapped off their hinges. It was very awkward for him, but the hokage's look of surprise at the time was its own reward and made the spectacle worthwhile.

The office, sans the old man tiredly sending him an inquisitive look, was suspiciously empty for being in a time of duress.

"Uh, hey, Hokage-sama," Naruto attempted a bow, but ended up cringing when he accidentally off-loaded Mizuki onto the floor instead, the man's head bouncing haphazardly when it hit the ground. He'd wrapped up the neck wound with scraps of the man's shirt after the bleeding had slowed down a bit, and it had the fortunate effect of leaving the floor – and himself – relatively clean despite the dead chunin's open wound.

"Uzumaki," the man nodded, not terribly amused at the casual corpse drop. He gestured to the scroll, and an Anbu flashed to Naruto's side to take it.

Naruto, unfortunately, couldn't always control his reflexes. He didn't intend to, didn't even have the chance to think about it, and directly in front of the hokage and smack in the middle of his hidden guards, Naruto abruptly leaned back on one foot and spun back and kicked the Anbu away in an instant, sending the poor man smashing into the wall of the office with a thud. The back of his head hit the wall with a dull crack that echoed far too loudly in the dome-shaped room. Naruto stared, uncomprehending, eyes wide in horror.

All in one moment; the hokage stood, a pair of Anbu appeared to his sides, the doors to the office burst open, and Naruto squeaked, dropping the scroll.

"I-I didn't mean to! I was just surprised!"

Everything seemed unsure for a moment, but everyone slowly relaxed, the doors slowly swung shut, and the pair of Anbu moved to help their comrade and take him to the hospital. One of them carefully, watching him closely, sealed Mizuki's corpse in a scroll and placed both scrolls on the hokage's desk before leaving. Naruto felt awful, but he was cognizant that they could've tried running him through with any variation of blade rightfully in that moment and he was glad to be alive.

As the situation calmed down and the hokage took a moment to examine the scroll, Naruto winced as the man noticed the mud stains. He was given a look, but the complaint wasn't voiced. Somehow, that made it worse. Finally, the hokage placed the scroll down, placated, and cocked his head. His stare was unusually intense.

"You… did not mean to?"

**New Quest!  
**«**What… just happened?**»  
You just annihilated poor Squirrel who was just doing his job.  
You're meant to be on their side.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Avoid punishment.  
**Rewards:  
**+?

He was meant to have notifications universally turned off for the moment, but he'd take that pop-up. He kind of deserved it.

"Yes sir," Naruto bowed deeply, suddenly aware of how dirty and bloody some of his clothes were, particularly the trousers. "I've always had… very good reflexes, and I-"

Facing downwards, he didn't sense the kunai until it whistled beside his ear, moments away from skewering him through the side of his head. In an instant, he twisted sideways and beneath the kunai, body parallel to the ground, and grabbed the projectile with his off-hand, spinning it around the ring finger.

Naruto blinked dumbly at what he had done as he straightened. Now conscious of his actions, he looked down and found that the kunai was blunted.

"…I see," the hokage said.

**Quest Complete!  
**«**What… just happened?**»  
You _avoided_ punishment.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Avoid punishment. [Complete]  
**Rewards:  
**«EXP +100»

The blond wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that. He looked blearily in the direction it came from, but saw nothing.

"I suppose Yamato was aware of this?"

"Maybe not," Naruto admitted, rubbing through his hair with his spare hand. "We kind of got used to each other as I grew up, so I don't think he even would've noticed."

In fact, it would be interesting to obser- _examine_ Yamato next time he saw him, now that he could potentially see stats, and see if the man was actually stronger than him or if he was just completely and utterly used to his fighting style. Speaking of, Naruto met the hokage's eyes and used the opportunity to test the newly evolved skill.

«**Select**»  
[Statistic Evaluation] or [Description and Mood]

Naruto picked the left, using his thoughts, something he quickly figured out how to do once he started training around other people.

**[Hiruzen Sarutobi]  
**«Third Hokage»  
STR: 185  
AGI: 210  
INT: 260  
CHA: 200  
CHK: 5500

The numbers were very high, but lower than he expected. The menu itself was practically a tidied-up variation to his stats menu, clear and concise. The man didn't have a level, but it wouldn't really make sense if he did – Naruto's the one who wields the odd ability to change his body on the fly.

…his own statistics at base value were much, much lower – but his passives boosted him to par where it mattered. It was insane of him to compare himself to the hokage like this, but even more insane that he thought he could match him. He'd never beat the man in a fight, and he'd never fight the man to boot, so it was all a bit pointless to even consider, but… the numbers were nice?

"Perhaps placing you with Kurenai's team isn't where a person with your skills is best suited," the hokage murmured, scratching his chin.

_Another_ popup.

**New Quest!****  
Ascension [2]  
**«Team 8»  
Stay with team 8 and continue the  
«Team 8» quest series.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Stay with team 8.  
**Rewards:  
**+?

He groaned. His ability seemed to be forcing him down a certain path and he didn't know what to make of it.

Ah, well, he'd always been kind of flippant, and he was too lazy after twelve years of following instructions to suddenly strike out on his own path. It would be out of character.

"I'd like to stay with team 8," Naruto said, interrupting whatever the hokage had been rambling about.

The old man seemed somewhat disappointed but seeing at it was his decision to place Naruto with the team originally, he wasn't really displeased.

"Of course," the hokage muttered. "Thank you for dealing with Mizuki and returning the scroll of seals. As embarrassing as it is to say, we hadn't realized it was gone until you brought it back. It was never made a mission, but you'll be credited for performing an A-rank on your profile."

It didn't matter to Naruto, because his ability rewarded him for it anyway. Nonetheless, he nodded his head and knew his dismissal when he heard it, turning towards the doors. Before he took a step however, he paused and turned back.

"Mizuki told me about the kyuubi."

The hokage blinked, surprised but too tired to hide it, and Naruto left.

«««»»»

The next few days passed with him ditching team 8 and compiling information with _Examine_.

It… really, really revealed a lot of information. The range of strengths between shinobi of equivalent rank, of children, and of civilians – it was all kind of surprising and, in his case, simultaneously uplifting and disappointing.

There was a large variation in the civilian population. Some children were stronger – and many were faster – than many of the adults, while many of the adults were ridiculously more powerful than many of the others, comparatively. He thought, perhaps, he was seeing the difference between people capable of manipulating chakra that never did, and those who couldn't do it in the first place.

The differences in power between different chunin were fairly noticeable too. He'd place the low averages of strength and agility for chunin around the seventies, and the high averages around the start of a hundred.

There weren't many jounin to look at, but the variation seemed much, much bigger. He'd placed fresh jounin to have stats about the same as the stronger chunin, while the strong jounin were _very_ strong. The stronger jounin seemed to be over the one-fifties. However, he'd spied Kakashi, who he'd vaguely been introduced to by Yamato a few years ago, to have stats approaching the level of the hokage. In a way, the hokage himself was a glorified jounin. It psyched him up to find Yamato eventually and check him out.

_But…_

He scratched his chin.

His own numbers were still the biggest.

«««»»»

While Kurenai insisted on giving him disparaging glances and remarks, the next couple of weeks passed with Naruto lazing around and the genin working on D-ranks while he profited off of it. The first _Team 8 _quest finished the day before, without really giving him a chance to make friends with any of the members on his team, and he received a pittance of experience from it. Shino stopped by his home at one point – Naruto was quite quick to leave at the end of the day – to ask about the blond's training regime but left discouraged when Naruto admitted he wasn't doing any training at the moment.

All the blond's skills were either at max or close enough to max that it would've taken ridiculous amounts of training for a single level that wasn't all that important. Until he made jounin and got his level cap increased, he'd probably keep enjoying himself. As a side note, he was enjoying watching a lot of television now that he had the time to do so.

…and then, there were _those_ skills. The skills he accidentally received from reading the scrolls, which were all sitting unused at level one. A vast majority of them were fuinjutsu based and didn't necessarily need training – his skills typically put him through the motions correctly, even if not necessarily providing a result fitting of the motions – but he'd made storage seals in the past and even at level one they were formed perfectly.

He didn't know what he'd say, however, if someone caught him using a jutsu that he shouldn't have had access to. It'd be hard to talk himself out of when he'd literally been in possession of the scroll of seals, and that's why he hadn't been training the skills that _would_ benefit. There were a few in particular that while he felt kind of guilty for having them, they would be utterly amazing if he ever used them, like the shadow clone jutsu. He'd been tempted ever since he read its memory retention bonus to leave a couple at home to grind _Chakra Manipulation _– it levelled _incredibly_ slowly in the fifties – but the thought of being caught halted him.

That wasn't even considering _those_ jutsu, three that, having so much as seen the titles of their pop-ups, left him grinding his teeth and struggling not to pull his hair out. They were all fuinjutsu based but using any of them would fuck _everything_ up.

While brushing his teeth, a familiar _ping_ brought his attention to a swarm of text. He'd only just woken up, so he took a moment to adjust his eyes to the bright silver lettering.

**New Quest!**  
«**Team 8 [2]**»  
Team 8 has passed the minimum requirements  
to run a C-rank mission. Convince Kurenai to  
let the team take such a mission _today_.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Team 8 accepts C-rank mission.  
Time limit: 4 hours.  
**Rewards:  
**+Exp

_Four_ hours? Naruto groaned, checking the clock.

«««»»»

Kurenai was rightfully incredulous. Arms crossed and glowering, she seemed mildly threatening. "After refusing to help with training and missions, you think you can just come here and ask me to take _fresh genin _on a C-rank?"

Naruto raised his hands, palms out, in a placating manner. "Look, I'm sorry about being lazy, but I really need this." He spared a glance to the two genin sitting some ways off to the side, on the stump he'd cut the first day. They seemed curious about the conversation, and could obviously hear it, but he wouldn't get any support out of them when they were also a bit peeved at him. "I'm running out of rent money-" a bold-faced lie, "-and even you have to admit it'd be a good experience for them. We've- _you've_ done the minimum D-ranks to do it now, so…" he lowered his hands awkwardly, aware that he was reaching.

Kurenai kept glaring at him, to Naruto's consternation. After a long, drawn out moment, the woman's glare shifted to a mildly annoyed grimace and she sighed, pursing her lips and uncrossing her arms, one cocked on her hip.

"Fine."

"_Yes!_ Thanks, sensei!"

He saw the smile before she could hide it.

«««»»»

Seeing the hokage when they grabbed missions was always odd to Naruto. It was pretty rare that it happened, but he couldn't fathom how the old man found the time around his presumably many duties. His eyes dashed to the timer on the quest pop-up, less than two minutes remaining, and heaved a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The hokage gave him a knowing look when Kurenai asked for the mission, which confused him a bit.

**Quest Complete!  
**«**Team 8 [2]**»  
You convinced Kurenai to take a C-rank mission.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Team 8 accepts C-rank mission. [Complete]  
**Rewards:  
**«EXP +550»

He vaguely listened to Kurenai as she hustled them out of the building and explained the mission parameters, but he was more focused on the silver text that had already replaced the old.

**New Quest!  
**«**Team 8 [3]**»  
Your first C-rank as a member of Team 8.  
Your 50th C-rank overall.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Complete the mission.  
2\. Your teammates survive. (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**1\. Jounin promotion requirement fulfilled.  
2\. +? +? +?

"Ohhhh," Naruto muttered. _That's_ why the old man gave him that look. He definitely expected him to apply after the mission, and he doubted that his application would be denied. It would absolutely be fantastic if he raised the level cap on his skills so he could get back to work.

He tuned back in just in time to see Kakashi and his genin team walk by, and to hear Shino complain that his bugs wouldn't enjoy their time in Wave.

**«««»»»**

**AN**: Wave is a little bit cliché, but I spent a few days stuck at the end of this chapter and that's what I eventually stuck with. Ordinarily it wouldn't be team 8's problem, but the quest saw an opportunity for action. It'll be quick and different (something I've seen said many times on many stories), but I can promise that. If it somehow ends up being a long arc, it just means a long next chapter.

…Several people guessed, directly and indirectly, that he would learn everything off the scroll, due to that nifty skill mentioned in the story summary. Good shit. The arc after Wave will deal with giving him legitimate access to using them. (It's also probably the most important arc of the fic!)

Stat sheet/skill directory posted as a separate story. [A snapshot of the stats as of this chapter, that is.] Just find it through my profile. It won't show anything that doesn't impact stats that hasn't been shown yet, like the jutsu off the scroll.

Chapter next friday, as usual. Chapter progress always rests on my profile page.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN**: As a side note, the XP gained from kills is affected massively by whether or not the killed individual has higher or lower (base) attributes than Naruto.

Also, holy-shit-500-followers. Damn.

**Chapter 5**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

The client was honest.

Tazuna seemed like a bit of a drunkard, but he admitted that he fully expected that they would be attacked. By civilians, mind, but he was forthcoming about it. He was quick to expand on the details that had been provided in the mission statement, and Naruto listened with a vague interest. He knew the rest of the team was paying enough attention that he didn't really need to, but…

The walk to the Land of Wave was otherwise very boring.

It was a three-day trip at the client's pace, which meant two days of camping out and hopefully the third in-doors.

It was turning out to be one of those notoriously easy escort missions. Most of it would be spent guarding the construction of a bridge, and they'd go home over it afterwards and probably be back within the day. Tazuna had opted for the cheaper and safer option of providing food and shelter, which meant that the mission would pay a bit less, but they barely needed to pack their own food.

It was, all things considered, a perfect first C-rank for a fresh genin team.

Kurenai placed herself at the back of the diamond-formation, with him at the tip and the genin by the client's sides. She placed a subtle genjutsu over the small group and it had probably saved them from a scuffle or two if Tazuna were to be believed.

The jounin spent most of the trip – they were in the morning of the third day, so far – speaking with the genin and offering basic advice and conversation. Naruto had no idea how she could keep up conversation for so long without running out of topics - it was probably something learned through sheer experience.

That left Tazuna speaking to him for much of the walk.

Speaking of, the man was rather casual about breaking formation and walking by his side, much to Kurenai's chagrin and his own private amusement.

"-that one, eh?"

Zoning out in the middle of the mission wasn't something he should start doing.

Naruto chuckled awkwardly, "sorry, what?"

The man rolled his eyes and waved his booze around in a dramatic motion, snorting.

"_Her!_" he said, pointing with the bottle to the back of the procession, in the general direction of Kurenai. "How're you, y'know... same team, and she's _real_ pretty."

Catching on, the blond almost chocked on his spit. "Wh-_Kurenai_? She's like-" he noticed the woman in question glancing over in the corner of his eyes and lowered his tone. Cupping his mouth with his right and leaning over, he gestured the man closer with his other hand. "_She's more than twice my age_, dude!"

He stumbled and Naruto quickly reached an arm out to stabilize the man.

"_What?_" he whispered, eyes wide and so surprised that Naruto had to keep urging him forward with an arm he quickly wrapped around the man's shoulders.

"_I'm twelve_," Naruto whispered conspiratorially, wiggling his eyebrows.

"_You're the same age as _those _pipsqueaks?_"

"_Uh-huh._"

"_How did that happen?! What did they feed you?_"

Naruto snorted and released the taller man.

"I entered the shinobi program and graduated it when I was four," he answered with a more appropriate volume, figuring that he may as well let that out to everyone. It certainly drew its due attention from Tazuna, the only one he could really see clearly without turning around.

Naruto rolled his eyes and elbowed him lightly in the side, shaking Tazuna out of his daze. "I look older than I am, huh?"

He nodded, giving him an odd look, and took a significant chug out of his alcohol.

"…tell me about that daughter of yours?"

Tazuna spat it all over him.

«««»»»

It was uncomfortable on the other side of the water.

It was a shared sentiment. Mist danced over the landscape, drenching and blinding them. It was cold, small talk went extinct and Tazuna walked stiffly in the middle of the formation.

They were barely off the beach when Kurenai urged Hinata to activate her byakugan. That is to say, they were barely off the beach when they discovered that the mist was infused with chakra.

The byakugan wouldn't be helping, and it was obvious now that Tazuna had more than bandits after him.

Shino's bugs couldn't manoeuvre effectively in fog, and Kurenai's attempts at genjutsu were divested of effectiveness by the chakra circulating the mist. Naruto could shunt the mist aside with enough wind-chakra, but it didn't last long. The team was left with their hearing and little else, but they pushed forwards with Tazuna's guidance, conversing quietly.

Being closer, Hinata heard the whistling first, but Naruto reacted significantly faster.

He dived into Tazuna in an instant, dragging the man down with him. "_Down!_"

Hinata and Shino fell to the floor and Kurenai leapt back, into the mist.

The whistling passed overhead in less than a second and would have bisected both genin and Tazuna hadn't everyone acted quickly. Naruto caught a glance of the projectile a moment before it thunked – presumably into a tree – just out of vision. It was vaguely familiar, but the mist had gotten far too thick to get a good look in the moment.

"Around the client," Naruto muttered quickly, facing the direction the weapon had flown. "Tighten the formation. Kurenai-sensei's somewhere in the mist, form a triangle." The genin acted quickly. Both were nervous, but neither were eager to get themselves killed and Tazuna wisely kept himself silent. The blond couldn't afford to give the man a glance, but he assumed he was terrified.

He heard creaking ahead of him, immediately assumed it to be the weapon being dislodged, and shot both hands forward.

"_Brace!_"

«««»»»

Zabuza could sense the group before he saw them.

The squad and their client appeared out of nowhere amidst his mist, a product of the genjutsu cancelling nature of the jutsu. It made sense why the demon brothers had seemed to miss them.

It was a real shame that the mission was accepted by what seemed in part to be a genin team instead of a pair of chunin. The latter would have been easily dealt with. A jounin could be a real problem and having the tough looking chunin as a secondary concern wouldn't help matters. If the demon brothers hadn't insisted that nobody had made it passed them and stayed in their spot, it would've been nice to have their support. Haku was well-trained, but hesitant to help in an assassination mission.

As it was, he didn't recognize the jounin and that could only mean she was new or insignificant. Zabuza was most certainly not new or insignificant, and so he held full confidence that he could murder all of them.

First, of course, was the tried-and-true method of starting the fight by aiming a hit at the client. He would save everyone some trouble if the old man died first, and he wasn't interested in any bounties. Nobody he could see was in the bingo book.

It was refreshing, in a way, to be fighting some weaklings again. Just like it used to be back in Kiri, every other mission.

Carefully controlling his breathing, as he was well-versed in, he dashed in close through the mist and threw kubikiribocho with a silent roar of exertion and dashed around the group.

They didn't hear him, but he grumbled noiselessly when he heard what he assumed to be the chunin barking orders nearly instantaneously. His ears twitched, hearing footsteps and feeling one of the shinobi within his mist backing away from the group. That was interesting, but he couldn't be ambushed in this situation.

Zabuza had complete control here. His mist sensed everything, and he gave away nothing.

The tree he'd thrown towards was easy to find, and he quickly retrieved the zanbato, tensing and cringing inwardly at the creaking of the bark as he removed it.

"_Brace!_"

The announcement accompanied by the screeching of powerful wind manipulation had him diving behind his sword for cover and spinning through handsigns.

The mist cleared in an absurd rate, and the fierce pounding bellows of wind had him sweating with the exertion it took to stay upright and rooted in place.

"What kind of _monster_…"

«««»»»

The fog in front of him gave way to the twin ear-splitting roars of a pair of advanced _Gale_ _Palms_. The pressure of the blast cleared all of the immediate area of mist – at least temporarily – and sent him skidding back harshly enough that Shino had to keep him from bowling into the client.

Naruto gave the boy a wink and moved back into place, observing the destruction wrought by a slice of his chakra that had already regenerated.

He hadn't been able to see it previously, but thick woods decorated each side of the dirt road, and where he assumed trees had been, half a dozen stumps lay uprooted and strewn about the brutalized landscape. That wasn't what drew his gaze, however.

**[?]  
**«Demon of the Hidden Mist»  
STR: 180  
AGI: 170  
INT: 110  
CHA: 70  
CHK: 4400

He pulled something from one of his vest pockets and tossed it to Shino, who caught it without a word.

"Bingo book, look for him. Hinata, get that byakugan back up and cover both your sides. Figure out where Kurenai went." He heard the genin doing just that as he kept his gaze locked on the tall, muscular man casually wielding a sword larger than Naruto himself and probably just as heavy.

The sword – a cleaver with two large holes decorating its center along the inner and outer quartiles – appeared scuffed up; dirty, dented and scratched. It would explain how the man avoided his Gale Palm.

Shino found it. "A-ranked missing nin, Zabuza Mo-"

He glanced away for a moment, and that's when he saw the movement in the corner of his eyes. In the time it took to turn back, Zabuza had already crossed the distance with a manic smirk decorating his face. The man didn't say anything; he didn't need to.

The cleaver swung horizontally, as fast as he could track with his eyes.

Without even bothering to consider his options, Naruto's arm snapped outwards reflexively. The top half of the man fell over, the arms equally bisected, before the figure and the sword splashed harmlessly against the path in a pool of water.

"Woo," Naruto shuddered, "that was close." He quickly pulled a kunai from his pouch and lit it up with chakra. _Kenjutsu_ for the AGI and reflex boost, _Lightning_ for another reflex boost.

Just like that, his perception thickened dramatically, and he had no problem twisting on his foot and bisecting waist-to-shoulder the second of Zabuza's clones when it appeared in their midst.

Hinata gesturing to the tree-line behind them caught his gaze and he watched as Kurenai leapt from the foliage towards them, someone about his own age sitting unconscious and tied up in her arms.

The figure wore the mask of a Kirigakure hunter ninja, but the rest of the outfit didn't match.

Hinata gave a word of warning, and Kurenai leapt aside as Zabuza dashed from the remainders of the mist, cleaving through where she had been. She dropped the kid and quickly began spinning through hand-seals, but the zanbato spun towards her too quickly and she was forced to abandon the jutsu and leap back immediately, her back reaching the borders of the mist that had recovered around the group. She was at least twenty feet away.

At that moment, 'Zabuza' collapsed into a puddle of water – Naruto assumed Shino's bugs must've had something to do with it – and the blond was suddenly grasped with a sense of panic. Fights between shinobi _never_ lasted long and this one just reached its apex.

«**Buff Applied**»  
[Adrenaline]  
For the rest of the fight:  
STR/AGI: +15%, Reaction time: -10%

Even as he began moving, he popped open his character sheet and assigned the stats he'd gotten from the last level up _weeks_ ago into his combat stats, and raced toward Kurenai as she spun, too slowly, towards the figure behind her in the mist.

«**Strength milestone!**»  
Strength: 100 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 5%(7% » 12%)!  
Chakra increased by 200!

«**Agility milestone!**»  
Agility: 100 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 5%(7% » 12%)!  
Reaction time decreased by 3%!

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Agility: 100 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 5%(12% » 17%)!

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Intelligence: 100 reached!  
Chakra increased by 400.  
Chakra regeneration increased by 1%/min.

First step. He resolutely ignored the pings of the UI and the beginning of shouts from behind, but something nagged him.

He was moving too slowly.

Well, that wasn't quite right. He was moving very fast, he could feel the air fighting against his skin and the pressure in his legs, even as his muscles were relaxing, growing and shifting into place as his body employed his stat points. It was different, though.

Spurred on by the moment of thought, he focused and quickly realized why it was suddenly different. Quickly running calculations through his head, something that came as easily as ever; he calculated his reaction time with adrenaline at just under four percent.

_But fast reflexes shouldn't equate to a slowed perception of time_.

Until it does, and he's reacting in real-time to events more than twenty-times faster than they happen.

It wasn't that he hadn't noticed the effect before, it just hadn't been as pronounced. The effect grew exponentially and became significantly more effective as the number approached zero.

Zabuza was already swinging and Kurenai was too slow to react.

His heart felt like it was beating in real time, thumping in his chest rhythmically.

Second step. Kurenai twisted away from the blow, earning herself a fraction of a second.

With _Kenjutsu _and [Adrenaline] applied, his agility was over three hundred and ten, double of Kurenai's and approaching double for Zabuza. They were _not_ slow individuals.

The third step sent him the last half of the distance in an instant.

The smirk that had settled over Zabuza's face, the man stepping out of the mist with his strike, was immediately swept aside by confusion. He was less than a second from bisecting the jounin when Naruto, seemingly appearing from nowhere, pushed the woman aside and clashed an intensely bright kunai with his zanbato, both of the weapons audibly cracking. The missing nin failed to keep his footing in his surprise, and his legs slipped forward as he fell back from the supernatural momentum behind the one-handed blow.

Naruto, with the confidence born of having performed the manoeuvre before, stepped forward into the mist and brought his crackling blade around for the finisher.

He saw, in slow motion, as someone appeared beside him. They were shorter than him, but it wasn't any of his teammates. They were also too late to stop him. In fact, they didn't pull out any weapons. He vaguely recognized them as the one Kurenai had seemingly incapacitated.

Instead, they stood in the minuscule space between him and Zabuza, skin-tight against the missing nin. While Zabuza was falling, their necks just-so-happened to align.

Naruto didn't hesitate. He had all of the time in the world to consider what was happening, and the kid's appearance between them only cemented that this Zabuza wasn't a clone.

The kid was raising his arms, quickly too, probably thinking that the kunai would – at worst – lose enough of the momentum it needed to kill him from going through the extra limbs. Naruto disregarded the notion by finishing his swing within the instant it took for Zabuza to realize what had happened.

«**Kill**»  
«You received 1132 EXP!»

Zabuza struck the ground and coughed blood, the kid – it might've been a girl? – having partially forced his swing short. It was still a lethal blow, and Naruto cringed inwardly at the missing nin's fleshy choking. With little fanfare, he flicked the scratched-up kunai downwards and it ran straight through the one of the man's eyes and into his head, whistling with a burst of wind chakra.

A bundle of textboxes intruded into his sight.

«**Kill**»  
«You received 14014 EXP!»

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 41 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 42 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 43 reached]  
Attribute Points +5! CHK increase!

He quickly dismissed them and ignored it. Attribute points weren't something he needed to spend right away.

The girl was obviously dead, missing a head, and so he quickly stole a couple scrolls from his vest and sealed them up, taking care to place the sword in a separate scroll. After seeing it up close, he was reasonably sure it was one of Kiri's special weapons. _Read - _or study? - was useful for more than just gaining skills.

He tensed when a hand landed on his shoulder but forced himself to relax. He'd learned from his 'episode' in the hokage's office.

"Thank you."

"A-ah, it was nothing, sensei. I was just doing my job."

He turned around in time to see Kurenai nodding her head.

"This is your last C-rank before jounin, isn't it?"

Naruto blinked.

She chuckled languidly, crossing her arms. "I made the assumption when the hokage gave you that wink when we picked up the mission."

"He winked at me?"

Kurenai shook her head, "but he may as well have. I'll give my recommendation when you apply, you've earned it."

Naruto grinned and gave his thanks, before the two strode back to the rest of the team and the client. Bereft of its source, the mist was quickly being washed away by the wind, and they quickly acted to make it to the client's home so everyone could catch some rest. Hinata and Shino stared at him like he was a different person throughout, and it was admittedly nice to have a bit of that same-age-chunin hero-worship back.

«««»»»

Tazuna's home was close to the bridge, reasonably large and comfortable. He introduced them to his family and told a lavish story of the attack, prompting them to thank the shinobi profusely. Afterwards, they were left to their own devices as the family prepared the evening meal. It had been delicious to the team, after days of tasteless rations.

"Did you say you were an Uzumaki?"

"Ah?" Naruto shook himself awake, blinking. He'd been sat on their couch and watching TV when he let his thoughts distract him. "Yeah, not something to lie about. What's up?"

Tazuna plumped himself on the couch with a content sigh, alcohol in hand. "I thought somethin' about that was odd, but it didn't hit me till we got home. Ever been to Uzushiogakure?"

It sounded familiar, but he might just be thinking of his own name. "Uzu-what now?"

**Ascension [2]  
**«Complete!»**  
**«**Team 8**»  
You stayed with Team 8.  
**Requirement:  
**1\. Stay with team 8. [Complete]  
**Reward:  
**[Special Skill]

«**Skill Discovered!**»  
[Uzumaki Heritage]  
«Special»  
You hail from an advanced, illustrious civilisation.  
Fuinjutsu is so prominent in the history of the Uzumaki,  
that it is unheard of for one to make error in the art.  
Fuinjutsu skills will always be performed perfectly.

The odd quirk of the quest completing aside, doesn't that skill mean that even half-drawn seals would-

**Ascension [3]**  
«**Uzushiogakure**»  
Jounin, the rare and elite of shinobi,  
are given many privileges. As an example,  
they may easily take extended leave.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Achieve Jounin Promotion**  
**2\. Visit Uzushiogakure.  
3\. ?  
4\. ?  
**Rewards:  
**+? +? +? +? +? +? +? +? +? +? +? +?

Tazuna yawned, the late hour combined with his exciting morning doing him in. "It's just across th' water, you could see it just outside if you really wanted. I mean, I don't know why you'd want to, it's been a wreck for… almost thirty years?" He rolled his eyes and pulled himself off the couch, shaking his head when he almost stumbled. "Forget it, I'm rambling. Too much to drink. Today was _scary_. Sleepy time."

The man kept speaking, mostly mundane brainless chatter, and left the room to presumably see himself to bed.

Meanwhile, Naruto was wondering how something so huge had escaped his notice when he'd absorbed books like a child does candy.

First off, he never even considered that he had that _special_ skill, for one. It made sense that the skill from the kyuubi would pop-up because he had a big ass bonus on his chakra – in fact, he was beginning to think that there might be dozens of invisible skills just hiding there, giving him an edge he doesn't even know he has, that he might not have even considered was something unusual.

He flicked off the TV and rubbed his eyes with his off-hand. The light of day had waned, and the windows offered him nothing but starlight. With the television off, that left him in the dark. It was easier to think that way.

The skill insinuated that he had a bloodline, maybe even a clan. That the village was called Uzushiogakure – the quest verified that for him, so it wasn't just an old man's drunken rambling – kind of seemed derived from Uzumaki. That the quest was so clearly, obviously pushing the issue, trying to make him visit with a bigger list of rewards than he'd ever seen by a _long shot_ was very, very suspicious, and he was hit with the thought that this was dangerously important.

It explained Ascension [2]'s sudden appearance. The quest that had him telling the hokage that he wanted to stay in Team 8 was abrupt and strange, and now – with its equally abrupt end – it was obviously planned for this conclusion. Why it was practically begging him to visit Uzushio; he hadn't the slightest idea. That he happened to 'discover' an important skill in doing so, gave him the inkling that the skill would be very important later.

He'd asked about his parents, once, to no avail.

Strangely enough, it was one of the few things he had considered important that his ability never generated a quest for.

«««»»»

Sleep that night was fitful and his dreams disturbed.

First, he dreamt of destruction; of war. There was… only one enemy? An individual, powerful beyond measure. Homes were annihilated and futures crushed. Of all things, he then dreamt of drawing. Visions assaulted him of stress, ink and blood. Of success and vindication. There was death - so much death - but it was followed by hope and then grim satisfaction.

Whatever it was, that he dreamed; it was of a slow success bought through a great sacrifice.

But after that, it was undone. Deceit. _They_ were now the enemy. There was… nothing left.

He remembered only glimpses when he woke; but he remembered how it felt, and his mind caught onto an idea that he'd really rather it not.

«««»»»

The next few weeks passed by relatively smoothly. The dreams – or visions, maybe? – continued, but they were sporadic and equally senseless.

The bridge was built slowly and meticulously. Rather, that's what Tazuna would have them believe. By the end it was almost like the entire thing had been propped up overnight.

Some time after the first week of construction, a mob had tried to bother the builders. A group of scarred, young to middle-aged men with an array of almost-weapons happened upon the bridge, harassing the workers and apparently trying to put a stop to their work. It was rather in vain when they apparently fell onto their faces, conked out courtesy of genjutsu. Hearing that was one of the few moments that Naruto looked back and wished he'd invested time into genjutsu. They were few because he would've had even less time for more important things like missions, but that was not the reason he wouldn't bother Kurenai with asking. He had a lot on his plate at the moment to be doing instead.

Kurenai had the genin training a bit while Naruto watched the construction, and he had days off 'guarding' the family when they swapped. It was deathly boring, and the thought of visiting Uzushio – which he could indeed see on the edge of the horizon from Tazuna's home – was wrangling with his sense of duty.

That's why he was so eager to leave the morning that construction was complete. It took away his chance to do something he'd inevitably regret.

"We need a name for this bridge…"

He resolutely ignored Tazuna's prodding and urged the rest of the team to leave quickly. He wasn't the only one wasting away in Wave, and Kurenai lead them over the bridge in short order.

«**Achievement!**»  
The Great Naruto Bridge!**  
**A landmark, connecting two countries, was named after you.  
+10 Charisma

He smacked his forehead and groaned, steadily ignoring the curious glances he received in doing so.

**Quest Complete!  
**«**Team 8 [3]**»  
Team 8's first C-rank complete  
You've fulfilled your final jounin requirement.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Complete the mission. [Complete]  
2\. Your teammates survive. [3/3]  
**Rewards:  
**1\. Jounin promotion requirement fulfilled.  
2\. +15 Charisma

«**Charisma milestone!**»  
Charisma: 50 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +2.5% (1% » 3.5%)!  
Your outward countenance is easier to take seriously.

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Charisma and Intelligence: 50 reached!  
You reactively shift your posture,  
so it seems that you know what you're doing.

…that was just weird, he thought, as he subtly straightened his back. Maybe Charisma was something else the game was desperately trying to push on him all of a sudden?

«««»»»

When they returned to the Leaf later that evening, tired and hungry, Kurenai sent the genin home. She gave Naruto a look, and he gave her the scrolls containing the deceased. After beckoning him to follow, the two made their way to the administration facility, where Kurenai left to do the paperwork in regard to the mission and waved Naruto off to the promotions desk.

It was late enough that the area was empty except for the chunin resting his head in his arms, eyes unfocused and clearly bored out of his mind.

Naruto walked up without fanfare. "Yo."

The teen's arms promptly slipped, and he banged his head smack on the desk. "_Wh- _shit!" he rubbed his forehead tiredly, shooting the blond a half-hearted glare. "What do ya need?" His voice was bland.

"I want to book an exam."

"Jounin?" the boy asked, adopting a professional vibe as he swung in his chair with the air of someone who'd already done it a thousand times. He tapped away on a keyboard for a moment, before glancing back at the blond. "Ninja registration number?"

"012293," Naruto said.

The desk-worker shook his head lightly as he typed it in. "I thought _I_ graduated early…" he muttered. He shifted to the mouse and after a couple clicks; his eyes widened. It was almost as expressive as when he hit his head on the desk. "U-uh, you're already booked… by the hokage. Usually you would be waiting for… well," he shot him a glance, "nevermind. Your venue is the hokage's office at 0900 tomorrow, good luck man."

«««»»»

While everything seemed to be going along inordinately quickly, Naruto didn't care for it to slow down. After almost a month of addled sleep and waking up confused and disoriented, he was more than eager to figure out what the hell was going on. Slowly, the dreams were coming together, the fragments finding their whole, and it was quickly painting a stark picture that he urgently wanted to look into.

He came to his senses when the thick doors of the hokage's office creaked to a close behind him.

"Hokage-sama." He bowed lightly, respectfully, until the old man waved it off.

"Naruto."

That was different. Usually the old man used his family name.

"What's on your mind?"

"Ah?"

He paused and glanced around the office. He had his wits about him to realize that there was nowhere for him to sit and take a written test, which he'd heard was part of the jounin exams. It was to show proof of required knowledge, which was quite a lot of knowledge when it comes to that particular promotion. If he wasn't here for that, then...?

The hokage asked him a question and he should probably answer honestly.

"Uzushiogakure."

To his credit, the hokage seemed utterly unsurprised. "It feels far too soon," the man muttered beneath his breath, chuckling briefly. He stole something from his desk and stood up, Naruto straightening reflexively, and threw a scroll. He caught it easily.

"It's a mission statement," he said, answering the blond's curious gaze. "You'll need it to leave the village for as long as you'll be gone."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

For the first time in a long while, Naruto was earnestly confused. He had no idea what was happening.

The old man sat back down and clicked his fingers. "Sit."

An Anbu - _Squirrel_, he realized - holding a chair moved to Naruto's side, cautiously slow, and placed it for the blond to sit. He did so quickly. The wooden seat was stiff and uncomfortable, but liveable.

"What do you know of Minato Namikaze?"

…that was out of the blue. "I know he was the fourth hokage, that's about it." Even while he said it, something within him told him he was lying. He couldn't place why, but something in the back of his mind stirred in irritation.

The hokage nodded slowly. "He was a powerful man, very powerful. An orphan, his family were mere civilians. It is beyond impressive for an individual with such humble beginnings to grow as he did."

While it didn't seem particularly important, Naruto nodded and listened. He absorbed the information given, even if it wasn't terribly necessary.

"They say – and I know this to be fact – that he could appear before even a team of sensors, and kill them all, one-by-one, before any of them even realized they were fighting. He was a seal master approaching the level of the second hokage himself, even as a teenager, and created jutsu with a proficiency he had no business owning. Even in my prime, he would have run circles around me, and I would have been struck down in an instant. He was fast, with reflexes beyond human possibility and as intelligent as none could hope to match."

The old man, wistful, smiled. "I believe, of everything, it was only his skill in fuinjutsu and picking his woman that was natural. You should know that you two are very alike."

Naruto was inexplicibly uncomfortable. "I'm not sure I follow…"

"Hmm? You're not the only one to act on a mistaken impulse to attack a poor sod for surprising you, Naruto. I'm sure you understand what I'm insinuating, but you refuse to acknowledge it. Nonetheless, you were here for a different reason…" Naruto watched on awkwardly as the man opened one of the draws in his desk and shuffled about, the trinkets clattering within the space of the desk echoing loudly within the domed room. With a quiet "ah-hah!" the hokage withdrew a small, pocket sized card and walked around the desk.

"This is yours."

Naruto stood, vaguely aware of what he was being handed even before he took it and he glanced at the card when he had it.

Naruto Uzumaki  
Rank: Jounin  
NRN: 012293

The ID card retained the picture he took as a fresh chunin five years earlier, his own younger gaze staring directly at him, and a long serial number ran along the underside of the card.

"I…"

The hokage clapped him on the shoulders, causing the blond to look up, meeting his gaze.

"It's good to have you, Naruto. I'm sure you'll be a grand example to the rest of your generation."

"…right."

«**Class Upgrade!**»  
[Chunin » Jounin]  
[Max Level [User/Skills]: **60** » Max Level [User/Skills]: **80**]

«**Achievement!**»  
Jounin!**  
**You've ascended the ranks to the top.  
You're now an elite shinobi, with all the privileges it comes with.  
25% of the experience earned over the previous level cap will now be rewarded.  
+10 Charisma

Dozens upon dozens of pop-ups assaulted him in the next moment, detailing ridiculous amounts of levels in skills and the experience gain associated, which he quickly acted to minimize. He was immensely grateful for the free experience – 25% isn't much, but some skills have been maxed for years and used passively, like _Chakra Enhancement_ \- but that was all for later.

"Thank you, hokage-sama." He bowed his head, and after receiving a nod back, made to leave the room.

He cringed inwardly when he _pulled lightly_ on the doors and they crashed harshly against the walls of the office, cracking audibly, while he sped up his pace and studiously ignored several annoyed exclamations. On the spur of the moment, he'd forgotten that he'd spontaneously gotten stronger within the last few seconds.

Whoops.

Leaving the tower, he slipped the new ID into his pocket and realized he was still clutching the scroll the hokage had given him. After a moment of contemplation, he unrolled it and gazed at the header.

_Land of Whirlpools: Survey [C-rank]_

…why the old man even bothered pretending he wasn't omniscient, Naruto didn't know.

**«««»»»**

**AN**: This was a longer chapter, and a lot was done. Doesn't quite have the quality of the others, but plot is moving quickly, and Wave doesn't seem so strange to have happened.

You might have noticed that the fights don't last long, but when every move is made to kill, they typically don't tend to – at least not with such a large disparity in ability.

_Ascendance: Character Sheet_ should have the second chapter out now, detailing Naruto's stats by the end of this chapter. It's not terribly important, but it's there for you to have a squiz at.

Next chapter next Friday, as usual. It's already half-done, but it's the kind of chapter that needs a bit of research, a lot of making stuff up, and maybe a redo or two.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: INFO DUMP. It might require a bit of suspension of belief, but then again – we're talking about a series where they take pre-teens and throw them at evil ninja cats. « best example I have, yikes.

I loved the hell out of the reviews from the last few chapters. I especially appreciate those that are reviewing regularly, and I tend to respond to the interesting questions when it won't spoil anything. Naruto/Kurenai just can't happen, by the way – can't make a lick of sense of it in this story, sorry.

**Chapter 6**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

His elation at the sudden promotion and excuse to visit Uzushiogakure was tempered by the knowledge that the hokage obviously knew more than he gave the man credit for. He still wasn't sure how that would've come to be.

He tried to ignore the anticipation stirring in his gut as he went to bed that night, but he was only resigning himself to visions. Again. This time, all he saw were two blurry individuals – a blond man and a red-headed woman – gazing over scrawls of fuinjutsu and scratching their heads.

That was more to it than that, though. They were _there_.

That was all he could really call it, anyway. Every night in the past week, his dreams were centered around a particular place – he hoped it was in Uzushio, but he couldn't even tell if it was inside or outside – where a massive, _pulsing_ seal matri- it was different this time. It was more complex, bigger, _alive_. It was always different, in these dreams. The blond man placed his hand on the seal's center, it pulsed angrily, a thick blue mist burst from the rows of ink decorating the floor, and he rose pleasantly surprised.

The vision ended, and he woke up with a groan.

Sleep _sucked_, and it wasn't even worth it. All he could remember were glimpses.

«««»»»

For someone that had always been lazy and more than a bit aimless, he was oddly driven for the trip.

Naruto visited training ground thirteen to let the rest of the team know he was off on a mission. There wasn't even a grumble about it, perhaps too surprised by the fact he was suddenly a jounin – Kurenai almost seemed offended – to muster anything against his leaving, and he left within the hour. Fuinjutsu made hauling supplies for a two-month trip pretty easy.

Wide awake and with a few hours of travel ahead of him, he no longer had anything to do but move and think… and he had a _lot_ to sort out in his head.

There was the massive seal from his dreams, that he was beginning to think was more than just a seal, if that made any sense. Then, there was the quest pushing him to visit the seal - that _had_ to be in the hidden objectives of Ascendance [3] and he had a bad feeling about it.

The hokage evidently knew far more than he'd ever told anyone, and he was 99% sure he'd never had his mind interrogated. That insinuated the hokage was familiar with a similar case. The hokage even went so far as to insinuate that the fourth hokage was, in fact, that case. He'd seen pictures of the fourth and his wife, who he knew to be an Uzumaki. He was orphaned the night they died. It would make so much sense if the fourth was his…

It made _too_ much sense. It _had_ to be the case. That he had the kyuubi sealed specifically within him only cemented that.

He had to remind himself the hokage was helping him, but… why wouldn't he be told explicitly? To be fair, he could come up with a couple reasons on his own, but it wasn't like he was happy about it.

«**Skill Discovered**!»  
[Namikaze Heritage]  
«Special»  
You were fathered by a gamer and inherited his power.  
Therefore, your body naturally filters the excessive energies.  
-100% risk of overexposure, +10% experience

…his mother was definitely the redheaded Uzumaki with the blond man from his dreams then. It was good to know that he could discover skills without quests, but it was just giving him more and more questions…

"Overexposure to _what_?" he growled, running a hand aggressively through his hair. But- did that mean he wasn't even meant to have the ability? Did it just _happen_ because his father had it? Did that even make sense? Did his mother _not_ have the power? Why?

"_How did my father get it?!"_

He was done with thinking. He'd figure it out when he was there.

«««»»»

After a mad dash across the water, Naruto concluded that the Land of Whirlpools was quite a bit more intimidating up close. It was much bigger than it had looked from Wave country, and the air… it _stank_. It was heavy, warm, and he didn't want to be there anymore. He couldn't quite say what it smelled like, but he decided that _no_, he wasn't going to go to Uzushio. This was a waste of time and effort. He'd just turn back, hand the hokage an excuse, and-

«**Access Granted**»

-why did he…?

Ignoring the stirring in his gut, he spun back to face the country and entered its shores. The air was still heavy, charged with an inexplicit energy, and very cold. He should've brought a thicker jacket.

Once he made it past the beach, anywhere he looked there would inevitably be signs of battle. Old and rotten corpses decorated the coast-line, and the smell was worse than anything he'd ever had to deal with before. The sand was stained such a disgusting red and grey that it made his _guts_ shiver.

He didn't recognize some of the insignia on several of the bodies, but he did recognize others. The symbols of Kirigakure were especially prominent, and he could spot another couple symbols that were also from the east.

Cresting a hill – hills were rather strangely bordering the beach and the mainland in all directions – he was struck with the sight of ruins.

Whirlpool country may as well have been called Uzushiogakure. Tall hills decorated the shores around the island, but that was it for land untouched. Within the circle made up by the hills and shoreline, taking up nearly all of the country and cresting a massive crooked river streaming through the island's center, sat what was once a shinobi village. The buildings were bigger than any he'd ever seen. Even cracked and fallen to the ground, the wreckage retained a sophisticated allure. Maybe he would change his mind if he visited a capital city, but the materials – just the way it looked, really, seemed before its time.

Then everything exploded.

He flinched, his ears ringed, his eyes burned – there was shouting, he was _hurt_, he-

He blinked, hands racing for his stomach, where he was certain he'd been run-through by a pair of shuriken. His vest was in pristine condition - nothing had happened.

Naruto didn't like looking at Uzushio.

He could _feel_ it. He could remember it as if the past were the present. Mothers and fathers trying in vain to protecting their kids and their home. Their children didn't just sit there either, they fought with them, young or old, but those that stood their ground _all_ perished; the enemy were too numerous, too well prepared. Some people ran, taking their family with them, while others were slain before they could make that step. Very few actually managed to escape. _Very_, very few.

He twitched, barely dodging a _very_ real kunai, and watched abashed as he tried to parry another, only for it to slip through his own kunai, his hand, and into his chest without leaving a mark.

It all played out in front of him, with no regard to order. A senseless mash of blood and death. He didn't understand what was happening. It was too much; an utter mess.

He was struck with a minor headache, and then watched as the scenes in front of him wavered and reformed. The fragments of past dreams, somehow, found one another and etched themselves together with some semblance of order. He couldn't help but watch keenly as the buildings were knit back together, the streets cleaned, the bodies regained their colour, and the crowds reformed.

His gaze found a tall but compact man with messy red hair. Uzushiogakure had a leader. They were not graced with the titles of the five kage, but they were extremely strong. He knew, watching, that this man was the first.

The first to die.

If he wasn't, if the _betrayal _that Naruto didn't quite know about but was _certain_ occurred didn't start with that man, Uzushio would have stood a chance. He didn't know how he knew that, but he had a guess.

He felt himself moving down the street to follow a small group of men that he vaguely knew to be important. Uzushio's leader stood to the front, gesturing wildly and – if the apparent chuckles of those around him were any indication – cracking jokes. He couldn't hear them, though, not really. The voices were off-pitch and slurred. In a matter of minutes, he followed the group into a wide stadium, and into a large private box resting on the stadium's edge. A long window decorating the inside wall let them see out into the rest of the stadium, full of people finding seats and looking towards the large dirt field that the structure surrounded. He watched as those in the room sat down and he observed as a pair of children entered the arena below.

It was quickly obvious what was happening. Naruto had watched a couple chunin exams in the past, from the comfort of Konoha's own stadium, and it was rather similar.

He didn't know that the eastern countries hosted a chunin exam. After a moment of thought, though, he decided it did make a bit of sense. Uzushio would've learned of its success from the neighbouring Land of Fire and would have probably been convinced to start their own cycle by the Leaf themselves – the missive he was given vaguely alluded to Uzu and Konoha being allied before its destruction. It would've made more sense if some Leaf shinobi then joined in on this one too, which they didn't seem to, but he'd have time to figure that out later.

He watched as one of the chunin hopefuls 'missed' with an oversized shuriken and executed a text-book substitution knock-out. The red swirl on the winner's shirt – a pattern that he noticed to be ubiquitous in Uzushiogakure – painted him as an Uzu shinobi, and the kid pumped his fist to some biased cheering before scampering off the field.

That pattern is on the shoulder of his shirt, isn't it? He turned his head. Yeah. He thought it might be on the back of his vest too.

He heard some grumbling behind him, but he still couldn't understand it. The sounds that should've been their voices were just as impossible to understand as it was to see past their blurry faces.

The next couple of fights were over quickly enough. One Uzu shinobi won a fight against another, and in the other battle a Kiri shinobi won a short fight against a kid he couldn't place.

It was hard to shake his paranoia. He couldn't help but notice the watchers that didn't actually _watch_ the battles, staring amongst themselves and occasionally glancing to the booth he looked from. He knew he was just watching a memory – and how the hell did that work? – but he couldn't help but tense. If these particular watchers weren't specifically excluding Uzu shinobi, it wouldn't warrant concern, but the absence made for something stark.

A red-headed Uzumaki girl won her fight, when something drew his gaze to the seats behind him. He watched as the Uzu leader celebrated, pumping his fist, and nudged the man beside him. The thin man, who he suddenly realized was the Mizukage, robe and all; groaned and handed the redheaded man a tight stack of ryo.

He pursed his lips. It was unrealistic, after losing a bet, to hand over the exact money so cleanly. The stack was too neat and it meshed against his quickly-increasing paranoia. Something had to go wrong, soon. It wasn't that he remembered much from his dreams, but he didn't remember any of this at all.

The redhead gave the money a look, instead of pocketing it. The expression paled and he gave the Mizukage an inexplicable glare and mouthed something Naruto didn't catch.

He didn't catch it because the man exploded.

His vision flashed a bright white, and now he stood outside. Wreckage assaulted the ground around him, and he could hear screaming coming from the stadium behind.

Uzushiogakure's redheaded leader was horrifically burnt, but _somehow_ standing, clenching his fists in an anger so palpable that Naruto could see it even when he couldn't _quite_ see the face. Across from him, on the other side of the wreckage, the Mizukage strutted forward with little regard to the injury he _should_ have taken from the explosion. The two spat unintelligible insults, and while sufficiently distracted, the redhead was struck down from behind by one of the other men that had been in the luxury box with them. Naruto felt an inexplicable hatred toward the man, who wore a headband that he couldn't recognize. Inexplicably, he cared a bit less about the Mizukage's involvement.

Another flash, and he was on the dirt of the stadium. He watched as those very shinobi he had been suspicious of did away with the naturally shocked guards that settled around the stadium's top. The civilians, confused and afraid, were mercilessly annihilated with carelessly thrown and easily aimed explosions, while the native shinobi in the crowd were too late to put up any meaningful defence before they were similarly cut-down. The hostiles had already been within, sitting in their crowds and eating their food. There was no defender's advantage, and they took both the pre-emptive strike and the numerical advantage. The defenders had little chance. He couldn't help but wonder what difference could have been made if some of Konoha were here to help.

Honestly, it wouldn't have been much.

Another flash, and he stood outside a tall, stone school. He watched as a handful of Kirigakure shinobi leapt onto the grounds and pulled off a massive and definitely draining collaborative jutsu using the river streaming beside the school, causing tall and powerful waves of water to burst straight through one side of the school and out the other.

Another flash, the hospital.

Another, they drowned the residential district.

Several more flashes; shinobi hunting down stragglers, short and intense bouts between the attackers and the outnumbered Uzumaki, and children being cut down that had almost gotten away.

He couldn't help it. He fell to his hands and knees and he puked. It was all too explicit and too sudden, he didn't have any time to prepare himself for this.

One last flash, more significant and numbing than those before, and he was back on the hill he started on. Still standing, still in that awkward position where he had tried to block an imagined kunai. Uzushiogakure was just ruins, and no one had lived here for decades.

He had to remind himself several more times before he pulled himself together, resolutely choked down on his feelings, and stepped into the village.

He distracted himself by thinking about finding the library. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help the flicker of excitement that came with finding a new collection of books to tap. In the back of his mind, he hated that he had so easily squashed his revulsion.

It took a long time, but he knew he had the right place when he found himself making excuses to leave the country again.

«**Access Granted**»

The doors were large, thick, and decorated with dozens of sealing arrays. He had a feeling that the Uzumaki treasured their knowledge above their own lives, for when he opened it, there wasn't a body in sight. The building was in mint condition, and the books plenty. He didn't understand how they could protect this building and not others, but it wasn't something he could figure out in his ignorance.

Probably more alone than he would ever be again, Naruto took the moment to test something private.

He made a cross with the index and middle fingers of each hand, and two clouds of wispy white smoke burst into his peripherals, one on either side of him.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Shadow Clone Technique  
[Lv.1 » Lv.2]  
Chakra Reduction: [0.5% » 1%]  
Increased endurance.

«EXP +50»

Being him, the manifestations of chakra already knew their role. They moved forward and ran their hands along shelves, making sure to touch the books adorning them. After a moment, they each popped.

The second burst of smoke was accompanied by memories, almost like his dreams had been, but they were much more explicit and pleasant… because they proved that the clones can, indeed, use skills.

It wasn't particularly important right at that moment, but it verified that they could grind, too.

To make sure he knew exactly what was going on, Naruto made the decision to read a single book at a time.

The building was circular, and when he raised his gaze upwards, he was met with the ceiling a dozen floors above him. The book-cases surrounded a long circular hole lined in railings from ground to ceiling. It was probably designed that way so that it was easy to spot who was in the building.

Thirteen floors, with at least a few hundred books a piece… it was easily going to take a few days to go through them all, and just as long to consolidate the knowledge.

«««»»»

As a mass of jounin made a ruckus leaving his office, the hokage motioned one of them to stay.

"Sir?" Kurenai asked, mildly confused.

"Would you change your mind about entering your team if I had a third member for you?"

She hummed. That was a familiar question. Originally, Kurenai didn't bother finding a third genin when Naruto left because she wasn't going to enter her team into the chunin exams. They weren't ready yet.

Or at least, she didn't think they were ready until _every_ other fresh squad with the privilege of a jounin-sensei entered. It made sense on reflection, that they would enter while the Leaf was hosting even if the team wasn't actually ready for chunin, but she wasn't expecting it.

"I suppose I would… okay. Who do you have in mind?"

It couldn't possibly be worse than _Naruto Uzumaki_. He was actually a life-saver in the end, but she had hated the idea of it the moment it was brought up. Even now, she was… unsure, but she knew intellectually that she was being a bit unfair. Her other students certainly held him in very high regard after their first C-rank.

"Kabuto Yakushi is easily the best pick. He's an intelligent, well-practiced genin with advanced medical training. It would be a good experience for all three of them."

It did sound like a good idea – an advantage, even – so she accepted it without fuss. Shino would've been crushed if he thought his classmates were getting ahead of him – the little guy seemed to be almost as self-conscious as his other teammate sometimes – and it would be a necessary experience for Hinata.

«««»»»

Naruto groaned.

The last book, a cute little novel glowing with a soft shimmering azure, slid out of his hands and settled onto the table.

«**Intelligence milestone!**»  
Intelligence: 250 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 20%(33.5% » 53.5%)!  
Increases all passive effects by 5%(25% » 30%)!

Choosing to read the entire library was quite the investment, but it was easily worth the time.

At least, that's what he had to remind himself frequently, because the headaches, _especially_ with that second intelligence milestone coming in; were _really, really_ painful. After almost a week of dealing with them, he wasn't particularly having fun.

He knew about so much crap that he wished he didn't need to know. So much trash that he didn't need to know at all, and also – thankfully – much of the vital information he had been missing. He was right about the chunin exams being an event copied from the continent, for example. The dates of the books – as far as he could tell when they weren't using the same dating format as Konoha – dropped off right around the time of the start of the second great shinobi war, and that explained why Leaf shinobi weren't around to help.

…but he needed some time to think about everything. There was quite a bit he had in his head all of a sudden. He had to differentiate the good from the bad, and the useful from the useless. Thankfully, he had plenty of rations sealed up and a soft sleeping bag.

«««»»»

Even while his sleep was often plagued by visions and memories, very rarely were they lucid.

That's why, as he felt the soft droplets of water in the silver, glimmering mists dance along his fingertips, he was rather confused. It was too much detail; his mind was too aware and too active for this to be a dream.

There was nothing but the mist. Everything else, as lacking as it was, glowed a soft and bland grey.

He walked, and his footsteps echoed, but he wasn't really moving. Without a point of reference, he may as well have stood still. The floor felt like stone, and oddly enough – he could see himself perfectly fine. There was light, just an absence of differentiable ground, sky... there was nothing but the soft, silver mist – and him.

Until, with a flash of white, something spoke.

"_You must correct her transgressions._"

"Wha-" he spun on the spot, unable to pin the voice to any specific location, but failed to see anything out of place. The thick, powerful voice's tone was an uncomfortable mix of amused and frustrated.

"_The burden falls to you, now_. _Do _**not**_ be another failure, you are the _**last**_ opportunity. She will soon wake. Do at least try to prepare, heir of halfwits._"

For a moment, he saw a pair of glistening white horns through the mist, before his vision was torn to darkness.

«««»»»

The odd dream aside, the next couple days were fairly regular, if utterly boring. The memories and visions seemed to have completely stopped after that particularly odd one, and so sleep became significantly more comfortable and something to look forward to.

And, of course, he'd learned quite a bit from Uzu's library… as far as he was able to believe it, that is.

The history of the Uzumaki was unreasonable, long, and – simply put – difficult to swallow.

For his own sanity, he'd worked himself down from the beginning, or at least; the beginning of what was relevant.

Let it be said that the Uzumaki wrote their history meticulously, even if much of it had been superfluous.

The Uzumaki clan shares common ancestry with several other clans. This goes as far back as a woman that, apparently, came to Earth from another dimension.

Her name was lost to history, but for all intents and purposes; the woman was described to be a god… kind of. She was also the primogenitor of chakra, and when she recognized that her twin children received the gift of chakra is when she _really_ became a true god – in childish anger, apparently. She wanted her power back. The Uzumaki did not have the details to that process, any names, nor knew much of anything about the resulting fight between the woman and her children afterwards, but she somehow lost that battle and her children went on to progenate the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki clans. The Uchiha and Hyuuga were gifted with prodigious talent, control, and doujutsu. The Senju received the supernatural physical prowess of the semi-celestial twins, and the Uzumaki received their share of life-energy and a penchant for seeking knowledge. The Senju and Uzumaki in particular kept in touch and stuck together within an alliance that seemed to have lasted until the Uzumaki's destruction. That would explain the Konoha-Uzushio alliance.

As a whole, the Uzumaki clan was incredibly innovative, particularly in the esoteric art of fuinjutsu. If not for the Uzumaki, fuinjutsu would not be common place. Personally, Naruto couldn't imagine a world without storage seals. Their work revolutionized trade and made many things, like long-term espionage missions, sabotage missions, supply missions, _his current mission_, as examples; significantly more viable.

But their revolutionary progress, combined with the more sinister details of their ancestry, brought them to the attention of the wrong individual.

Over sixty years ago, around the end of the warring states period and before the founding of Uzushiogakure, the wandering Uzumaki clan was visited. The visitor was an odd, paper-white man described as wearing a decorative set of white pyjamas with a pair of horns sitting erect on his forehead. An old but cute little hand-drawn picture of the figure came to mind, but he wasn't sure which book it came from.

He - if it could be called a he – claimed to be a dimensional traveller, like that of the primogenitor of chakra. Understanding the aptitudes of the Uzumaki, he demanded for assistance in creating a plethora of jutsu that dealt with different methods of effectively stealing chakra. It was supposedly something other dimensional travellers were already reasonably proficient in, while he himself was yet young and inexperienced. Why he needed the Uzumaki for that wasn't known, nor why the traveller had come to their world in the first place.

When the Uzumaki refused, citing that such a thing was utterly beyond their means, the being got very, very angry. It seemed utterly irrational, in text, like an arrogant and undisciplined child.

So it struck, and it ruthlessly killed the entire head-family of the time. Its strength was abrupt and undeniable. The Uzumaki families split up and went their own ways, disinclined to present themselves as a large target, but it quickly became apparent that the individual was set on hunting them down, one by one, until they either agreed to help the individual or he slaughtered them outright.

The being's actions provoked a short, but impactful war.

After seeing it done elsewhere, the Uzumaki raced back together and began settling on the island known today as Whirlpool Country and founded Uzushiogakure. They prepared countless countermeasures to the dimensional traveller, and when he inevitably followed the last dredges of Uzumaki to the island, he ran into their traps thoughtlessly. He didn't go down without killing dozens, for he was just too destructive, but his fate was sealed by his arrogance in coming to a battlefield the Uzumaki had well-prepared beforehand.

The records of what they did with the being were suspiciously absent, but he had an idea.

An idea, he thought, as the large doors creaked inwards, that he was finally taking the time to proof-check.

Sans the stadium, this was the widest building in Uzushiogakure; the centre for governance and logistics. He followed the guiding lens of wispy memories to a room in the back of the ground floor, resolutely ignoring the signs of destroyed workplaces and corpses along the way, and took a moment to study the seals decorating the thick metal door blocking him. It was fairly banged up, like someone – or several someones – had tried to open it by force.

Naruto learned about quite a bit more than just history when he went through Uzushio's entire library, and had little trouble finding the seal mechanism that would actually open the door. It was keyed to an identity seal, which was designed to identify a particular nuance in an individual's chakra.

He held no illusions that it would somehow be keyed to his chakra, and instead of tripping some of the other, alarmingly destructive seals that decorated the floor below him, he channelled a small flush of azure chakra to his left index finger and tapped the center of the identity matrix. A flush of small seals expanded over the door, and his identity was added to the log.

It was as simple as using the door handle after that.

Behind the door was a small, bland room with a trapdoor. After fiddling with the seals on it for a moment, he popped it open and looked down the hole. A ladder came down from the hatch, but he couldn't see all the way down its length due to a lack of lighting.

With a shrug, he crouched, reached for the top rung, and swung his legs down the hatch, careful not to kick against the ladder too hard when he found his perch. It would be pretty bad if he kicked with too much force and dislocated his arms or something - he could totally see it happening.

«««»»»

…it took a seriously long time before he saw anything in the otherwise pitch black of the tunnel down.

He was stiff, hungry and regretting his decisions by the time he saw the flash of a light down in the distance, and after another few minutes of climbing he'd finished the descent. A pair of cute little torches, lit with a fluffy blue light, sat on either side of another thick metal door. This one wasn't busted like the other one was, and when he tapped it in the universal gesture to expand the seal he was looking for, nothing happened. Great.

He felt kind of silly when, after a few minutes of trying to figure out the trick to opening it, he resigned himself to trying the door handle and it popped open without a fuss. It must not have been locked up last time it was used.

Naruto poked his head into the room behind and couldn't help himself.

"_Holy_ shit."

The room was ridiculously big. The walls stretched as high as he could see, and he figured the room was just about long and wide enough to fit both the stadium where they'd hosted the chunin exams and the centre this was built under. The occasional pillar kept it structurally sound, lengths of stone in an otherwise entirely wooden and polished room.

But it was the pulsing, shimmering seal that drew his attention. A blue and thin knee-high mist permeated the room, being collected and output by the ridiculously large sealing array decorating its surface, stretching from wall to wall and end to end. A rectangular stone box – the size and orientation of a resting coffin – sat in the middle of the seal, where at least one line of every facet of every portion of the seal converged. It was difficult to articulate the description of a seal, but if he had to put it into words, he'd say it was probably made up of the smallest, most precise detail he'd ever seen, yet it was still by far the largest work of fuinjutsu he'd ever come across. Nothing in Uzushio's library even _suggested_ a seal _approaching_ this large. He was reasonably sure that if he tried to expand a portion of the seal, he'd discover why the walls were so high.

The shape of the seal vaguely followed the pattern of the Uzumaki swirl.

He wasn't sure if he should step into the room, but after he'd checked the immediate vicinity of sealing for the third time, he just rolled his eyes and pushed himself forward.

Obviously, he missed something. For a moment, the blue glow of the massive seal pulsed an angry, neutralized green. He hesitated, indecisive, and the harsh grinding of stone against stone had him hastily pulling himself back out of the room and slamming the door shut. After a minute of standing there, holding the handle with twitching ears, the sound stopped.

He debated with himself for only a few seconds before taking a breath and opening the door again. He knew he wouldn't be able to convince himself to just leave – the quest wasn't done yet – so he wouldn't bother trying.

Where before there had been empty space around the room's entrance, there now sat a stone pedestal, reaching his chest, with a flat square top. There, a thick orange folder sat indented into the stone.

For a moment, he thought he saw the blurry visage of a blond man flipping through pages and writing notes. It was probably his father, but why he had these visions at all still eluded him.

He resolutely stepped forward and poked the book, fully expecting the incoming headache.

…which he didn't get. Instead, two silver words streamed into view, the pretty brown backdrop covering his visage of the folder as if playing a prank.

«_Not Available_»

"That's _never_ happened before."

He tapped it again.

«_Not Available_»

Eye twitching, he pulled open the folder's cover-

«_Not Available_»

…it was going to do that every time he turned a page, wasn't it? Beneath the cover, an extremely thick set of pages sat clicked into place. A storage seal decorated the inside of the cover with the note 'spare paper' scrawled beneath it. Like it wasn't bad enough that he was going to have to read through something manually for the first time _ever_, but it was also easily the thickest piece of literature he'd ever gotten his hands on.

Thankfully, the mission statement gave him over a month more to waste, so it wasn't like he was at risk of running overtime. That in mind, he flicked past the first page, merely detailing a pretty title that read _Integration of Anomaly_, and resigned himself to reading through it. Strangely enough, he wasn't a fantastic reader – he really didn't have much practice.

_0 UZU, April 25th_

_Hirohide Uzumaki, Department of Detainment and  
Prisoner Analytics._

_Containment is precariously chakra conductive, but  
the Traveller proves sufficiently restrained. Its energies  
respond well to a modified eight-trigrams seal, allowing  
us to emulate the self-sufficient nature of a jinchuuriki's  
seal. Next, the limits that we can extend the seal before  
it begins to negatively impact the host must be tested.  
This can easily be done with careful application and  
extension of any chakra-intensive barrier jutsu._

A little note was scribbled messily under the passage.

_This is probably what covered the island – MN_

He'd bet that was probably the fourt- his… father. Naruto didn't think he would get used to having a father, but he also didn't need to; the man was dead.

That small passage of text only covered the top-left quarter of the page. To the right of it sat a clean list of personnel involved, while the bottom half of the page held scribbles of half-formed seals, and enough bits and pieces of notes and details relevant to the top-left passage to take up all of the given space.

«_Not Available_»

It really was going to happen _every single time_ he turned a page, wasn't it? The next page had the same format, and he decided to ignore all the extra bits and pieces until he'd gone through all the upper-left plain-passages first. He wasn't sure how long it would take, but it helped that it was probably important.

_0 UZU, July 14th_

_Hirohide Uzumaki, Department of Detainment and  
Prisoner Analytics._

_We discovered no upper limit to the seals that we were  
able to draw from the Traveller, despite adding several  
layers to the barrier. We created two of such barriers  
before we reached our own upper limits; an inability to  
produce anything more sophisticated, and a lack of  
the necessity required to place barriers anywhere we  
haven't already placed them. This is now a project for  
the Department of Research and Development._

Another little note was scribbled below this one.

_Second one is over the library – MN_

«_Not Available_»

_0 UZU, July 17th_

_Fumitaka Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_As demonstrated by the barriers linked to the Traveller,  
it is possible to create a distant connection to the host.  
Creating a mobile barrier without losing the connection  
to the host alludes us._

«_Not Available_»

_0 UZU, July 23rd_

_Fumitaka Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_Creating an expensive static barrier over a mobile host  
proves promising._

«_Not Available_»

_0 UZU, August 4th_

_Fumitaka Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_Powerful barriers have been successfully placed and  
linked to Subject U6, while being powered solely by  
the Traveller. As of yet, it serves no purpose beside  
channelling large amounts of chakra._

«_Not Available_»

_0 UZU, August 26th_

_Fumitaka Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_A seal dealing with physical reinforcement still alludes  
us, but the Traveller's chakra proves to have an affinity  
with mental avoidance matrices. We have added them  
to the initial barriers created and linked to the Traveller.  
Testing has revealed that we can temporarily cut the  
connection to either seal to allow visitors without any  
repercussion to the primary array._

_Reminder: find these matrices and reproduce it - MN_

«_Not Available_»

_0 UZU, November 1st_

_Katsutomo Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_Successful application of physical reinforcement  
remotely powered by the Traveller. Subject U16  
has moved as far as Konohagakure without a  
drop in seal efficacy. There is still no noticeable  
strain against the host. A form of chakra sickness  
seems to linger in the older test subjects, and they  
have been removed from the program accordingly._

_Just in case, try limiting use of the Traveller's chakra  
overtime, slowly increasing yield – MN_

Something about that last note set off alarm bells. His ability was very much something 'slowly increasing'.

«_Not Available_»

_1 UZU, January 23rd_

_Katsutomo Uzum-_

His stomach rumbled, and he reluctantly shut the folder. It wasn't exactly morning when he decided to go exploring, and he was feeling it. He pulled a small scroll from one of his vest pockets and released his sleeping bag. There was just about enough space around the door to the room that he could rest without smushing any of the seal. Another scroll, this one larger, and out popped a brick of nutrients that tasted like cardboard. Let it be said that he sacrificed perfectly delicious food to come out here… well, it wasn't like he was going to do anything else.

He suddenly realized he was very, very _boring_, and the thought helped keep him awake for at least an extra hour before he managed to fall asleep. There was at least some form of temperature control down here, unlike in the library.

Was he meant to have a goal? Was he meant to be striving towards something? His dad clearly had one, but he might personally be too lazy.

Maybe he'd figure something out once he actually knew what he was dealing with.

The seal gently pulsed, and the mist curiously enveloped his form as he slept.

**«««»»»**

**AN**: Long Naruto-centric chapter, but it was really just info-dump and world-building. I tried to make it interesting. Chapter length ended up getting away from me and I ended up writing even more of an info-dump than I meant to – and I did mean to – and the arc isn't even over yet! It was meant to be concluded this chapter, but it's just too much. The next arc will still begin somewhere next chapter, and you can probably even guess what it is. Naruto has just about enough time to miss _almost_ all of the chunin exams.

It's _meant_ to be clear, so I'll go ahead and put it here: the figure that found the Uzumaki clan pre-Uzushiogakure and attacked them is a member of the Otsutsuki, and that is what's being researched, and being used at the catalyst powering everything. Hopefully it makes enough sense so far. Naruto still hasn't given his own opinions on pretty much anything for lack of someone he'd actually talk to about it.

Not much change, but the next chapter of the character sheet should be up when this goes up. Again, it won't show any jutsu – fuinjutsu included – that hasn't been shown in the story, even if he has learned it.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN****:** Sorry for the long wait, so here's a much longer chapter to make up for it. It does start off a little dry, though.

**Chapter 7**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

_Brush._

_She opened her mouth._

_Brush._

_She closed it._

"_You were about to ask how it predicts the future, again."_

_Kushina scowled. "That's so weird." _

_She realized a moment later that Minato, while still adding minute detail to the seal expanded over the wall, had said her words in sync with her. It wouldn't have been that bad, if he hadn't copied her exact tone of voice throughout._

"_I don't like that," they both said. She frowned and he grinned sheepishly._

"_Sorry," he said, clear insincerity laced in his tone, "but you have to admit it's pretty awesome. It's almost like having the sharingan."_

_She shook her head, and merely continued to make notes in the folder on her lap. _

"_One of these days, Minato…"_

_She blinked. "Did you just do it agai-"_

"_Sorry!"_

«««»»»

Just when Naruto thought that the dreams were over, they returned. This time, at least, they weren't inherently negative or barely comprehensible, so they didn't ruin his nights. He could pretty much remember them completely, and he couldn't help the smile that came up sometimes when he thought about the silliness of his _parents_. He still had to get used to that word. Parent. In his dreams, they were either late-teens or early-twenties – he wasn't sure – and they acted with the boisterous energy of children.

"Parent. _Parent_. Parents. _Parents_." He knew he was wasting time, even if most of his attention was focused on the folder in his lap. While standing and reading wasn't troublesome, he couldn't help but emulate his mother's posture when she'd been entering his father's changes into the logs. Sitting down allowed the awfully invasive mists of blue and – he only noticed the second colour recently when he looked carefully - silver chakra to cover him with its foggy embrace. It was an odd experience, the mists both wet and billowy, but leaving him dry.

After almost two weeks of reading through the orange folder, it was beginning to wear on him, and he was really itching to find some ink and change a couple things. Every now and again, typically after he read any particular facet of the seal to be finished, he would flip back through the pages and work to understand how that part of the seal functioned from the scribbles they left him. Doing this took much more time than the reading itself did, but it was also much more important. Sadly, he simply wasn't going to be ready to touch anything until he had gone over every single piece of information available.

After the few passages he read on his first night within the warm but wet atmosphere of the sealing room, the notes grew significantly closer together by date as the Uzumaki started using the seemingly infinite reserves of the _Traveller_ to go crazy with designing and testing new seals. It was vaguely explained why, but only so far as they understood it. If a researcher made a mistake that would usually end in their blowing themselves up, which could only happen with an error that resulted in a seal attempting to use too much chakra at one time, the excess chakra would instead siphon off into the master seal – i.e. the _Traveller_ – the moment it diverted from its assigned route within the sub-seal. It was a side-effect due to the master seal being foe-living, or at least, that was the presumption. This plummeted the workplace casualty rate to zero, and let the researchers work with a zeal usually restricted to those that weren't afraid of a bit of bodily harm.

He decided that this expanded to him. At one point, he'd have to try making an explosive seal at some point just to see what would happen.

«_Not Available_»

That textbox right there was the most prominent reason that he was itching to have a go at touching up the seal himself.

_18 UZU, June 3__rd_

_Hisatsugu Uzumaki, Tourism Security, Enforcement  
and Response Division._

_The mega-barrier was successfully switched off  
for a period of three days, in which two thousand  
foreign shinobi and civilians made their way into  
Uzushiogakure without incident. The mega-barrier  
was then reinstated, and it did not affect those  
that had already made it inside._

Figuring that this one seemed vaguely important, he flipped through pages until he could find the tail-end of that entry.

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

«_Not Available_»

_18 UZU, June 25__th_

_Hisatsugu Uzumaki, Tourism Security, Enforcement  
and Response Division._

_Following the end of the chunin exams, there was  
some confusion in leaving the island, but it was slight  
enough that it did not warrant switching the mega-  
-barrier off for those leaving its boundary. The strength  
of the mega-barrier proves to be such that none of  
those that have previously entered would be able to  
return until it is again deactivated._

_Murashige Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_This was a comprehensive test for measuring the  
feasibility of running the mega-barrier long-term.  
It was a resounding success and opens the mega-  
-barrier to further alteration in the future._

As interesting as the entries were – they all are, which is why he hadn't stopped reading even when he truly realized the monumental effort he was ascribing himself to by choosing to read all of it - he couldn't help but think that none of this really helped them in the end.

«««»»»

_Kushina was fairly concerned when she saw her husband crouched _outside _of the building containing his new pet-project._ _"…what are you doing?_"

_Minato paused, bent over with his hands on the ground. He was clearly fishing for an excuse, but he mustn't have found one he liked. "Uhh… I'm just… testing it."_

"_I thought you said _that_ chakra was too dangerous," she said, brow cocked with crossed arms._

_He didn't respond._

"_You're about to do something dumb, aren't you?"_

_He snorted. "I'll be fine, watch."_

_So she watched…_

Boom!

…_as the massive stone walls of the building beside her disintegrated, her husband nowhere to be found._

"_M-Minato?! Don't tell me you just ran_ through_ that fucking building!"_

«««»»»

Resolutely ignoring that his father was somewhat insane, Naruto sped through breakfast and kicked back to make more progress on the folder. After more than three weeks, he was finally approaching the end of the stack, and he was rather hoping to finish it soon. He only had two more days before he had to be back home in Konoha, and he hadn't so much as wet a brush.

«_Not Available_»

_35 UZU, December 31__st_

_Genjirō Uzumaki, Department of Research and  
Development._

_Subject UZG fully compatible with all facets of  
the SAICC sealing configuration. At a maximum  
of 45% power draw, the subject does not suffer  
from the pernicious nature of the Traveller's  
chakra as seen in previous subjects. The only  
difference in the seal between the times of  
testing subject UZG and previous subjects is the  
method employed to neutralize the chakra  
charging the seal configuration._

«_Not Available_»

_36 UZU, January 3__rd_

_Sumimoto Uzumaki, Tourism Security, Enforcement  
and Response Division._

_Routine shutdown of mega-barrier for three days, in  
which four thousand foreign shinobi and civilians  
entered the village. Mega-barrier reinstated without  
issue._

«_Not Available_»

_44 UZU, March 12__th_

_Kushina Uzumaki, Konoha._

_We just got here, and Minato already connected  
himself to the seal. He's repeating everything I say  
as I say it, and it's really, really annoying._

He glanced to the bottom half of the page, and sure enough, there was a very detailed diagram showing the part of the seal that Minato fiddled with that day. Then, he realized what that meant, and his eyes dashed back to the date on the previous page. Thirty-six years after its founding, on the – he flipped back to the earliest chunin exam(which took way too long to do), compared the date to the second and did the math – 12th exam hosted in Uzushio, it was destroyed. He already had a vague idea of the timeline from the library, but this was the first bit of dated evidence that was actually cut-off by the event. Judging by the event's typical length of about three weeks, Uzushio was probably attacked on about the 20th of January on the year of the second shinobi world war.

He, uh, didn't actually know how long ago that was.

He turned the page… and couldn't help the smile when he realized that the pop-up didn't pop up. That was an improvement, but the skill still didn't work, and the next page itself was just as distracting as the last.

_44 UZU, March 13__th_

_Kushina Uzumaki again._

_Minato just ran himself into a building, and he  
broke an arm _and_ two of his ribs. Seriously, what  
was he thinking?_

Another page another diagram. This one showed the part of the seal that his dad had altered to speed himself up, after he modified the design of a reinforcement seal that was already part of the major one, the alterations catalogued with pin-point detail in the diagram. It was not something that Naruto was going to be able to replicate, but he didn't need to. The work was already done.

_44 UZU, April 17__th_

_Kushina Uzumaki._

_MN rewrote the entirety of the quarter of the seal  
responsible for knowledge and skill transference,  
using the templates provided for ease of replication  
on entries #1780 and #1802. I can't even begin to  
understand how he did it, but the seal in that  
quadrant is now specifically designed to record and  
alter itself automatically. Designs provided below,  
as far as I could copy it._

«««»»»

As the day wore on, the entries became more and more complicated, and he realized that being able to add any of his own changes was starting to seem like a pipe-dream. Minat- his _dad_, had obviously been incredibly good in his field.

Though, it was borderline unbelievable that he made so much progress in so little time, compared to the Uzumaki themselves. He was definitely some kind of prodigy.

By the time he truly made it to the end of the stack – and _wow_ was it satisfying to finally close the folder – his drive to do anything himself with the seal was overruled by his urge to sleep. He was once again thankful he remembered to pack his alarm clock, or he was sure his internal clock would be ruthlessly destroyed down here, deep underground with the distinct lack of daylight that being underground brought with it.

«««»»»

_It was difficult to ignore, even with her head in a book, whenever Minato insisted on bursting into off-tune whistling._

_Kushina, sat as she was in the middle of a complicated seal matrix that she was not at all worried about smudging, shut her book with a wince at a particularly high-pitch and off-tune note._

_But she knew that he only whistled when he lost himself in something fundamental._

"_You've been staring at nothing for at least a minute now, you okay?"_

_It was unlikely she could truly help her husband. He was awfully good at fuinjutsu for a non-Uzumaki – would've been awfully good at fuinjutsu for an Uzumaki, even – but he hadn't stopped for longer than a handful of seconds all day. The part of the seal he seemed to want to adjust was one of the most important parts; it controlled the limit on chakra that was allocated to his person, chakra channelled through the SAICC configuration that directly affected his body. It was a reasonably simple part of the seal compared to others, though._

_She couldn't understand how the seal drawn in this room affected his body when there was no more than a simple correspondence seal transcribed on his scalp, but then, it wasn't her job to understand. Minato understood. For her, she was experienced enough in fuinjutsu to transcribe what he was doing, and that was good enough to give her something to do._

_He blinked, seemed to remember where he was, and spared her a look. "I was just… thinking."_

_While that was obvious, Minato's ideas were always pretty cool, and she wanted to know. "And?"_

_His gaze travelled to her stomach, and when she instinctively raised a hand to block his view, he seemed to realize his mistake. He blocked a cough with his off-hand and met her gaze with a sheepish grin._

"_Right, well. You understand why babies eventually make for better jinchuuriki than adults, right?"_

_While her first reaction was to blush and splutter, she knew he wasn't thinking along that wavelength. A baby makes for a fantastic jinchuuriki because, as their body grows, it grows with the expectation of having the secondary chakra present, from start to finish. Their body grows to accommodate it, and when their chakra coils eventually thicken and grow alongside the child, they are not only shaped to channel and contain their own chakra, but also the secondary chakra that has always been a part of them. The coils of a jinchuuriki are literally grown to specifically handle the chakra of a biju. _

"_Y-yeah, of course I do. _Why?"

_If Kushina had the kyuubi sealed into her only a few years earlier, she would have been able to effectively use its chakra. Her coils were already growing when she received the kyuubi. In the time between her receiving the kyuubi and her coils maturing, the best she could do is channel the chakra sparingly, but she couldn't truly use it. As is, at best, she was at risk of accidentally harming herself if she let go of her emotions and a bit too much of it made its way through her body. Her body could only really handle it in-so-far as being an Uzumaki protected her._

_Minato nodded. "Well, I was just thinking… I can only use 35% of the SAICC configuration's predicted chakra capacity – which I used _all _of to make myself quick, of course – and the last person hooked up to this thing could use 45%, since he was an Uzumaki, which is pretty unfair, really, but he was also pretty young, and even though it's so easily adjustable, I don't think-"_

_She glared, and he realized he was rambling. It was something that quickly became a common occurrence once they visited Uzushio. She was the one that wanted to visit though, so she couldn't truly complain._

"…_so I was thinking, isn't that _exactly_ like you and Mito, with the kyuubi?"_

"_Huh?_"

"_You've talked about it before, remember? Mito Uzumaki sealed it into herself when she was an adult, so she couldn't access the kyuubi's chakra even if she wanted to. Her coils didn't even have a door for it, they were fully developed by the time she had the kyuubi's chakra to contend with and they never shifted to accommodate it. Right?"_

_Not really sure where he was going, Kushina could only nod and wait for him to continue._

_He licked his lips and paused for a moment._

"_And your coils," he frowned, "were in the middle of growing, but because they were already fairly developed, you can't really act as a jinchuuriki either." Another pause. "You could, however, at least use _part_ of it if you really really tried, and every single jinchuuriki made from newborns that I can think of were incredibly good at using their biju's chakra." A third pause, and he scratched his chin. "…I have no idea how B, that new eight-tails jinchuuriki, can use his biju so well when he didn't get it until he was the same age you did, but lightning nin are weirdos anyway. You're following my train of thought, right?"_

"_This is the part where you start talking about the seal again," she provided helpfully._

_He hummed, nodding his head. A grin spread across his face, and he couldn't hold back a laugh at something she didn't catch, but when he eventually calmed down he would obviously tell her._

"_Well… heh, don't you think that the same principle would apply if we linked the seal to a baby?"_

"What_."_

"_Think about it! If they grew up with this seal's chakra reinforcing their body, wouldn't their body eventually learn to filter it the same way chakra coils eventually learn to filter biju chakra in jinchuuriki's? Maybe they'll only be able to use one or two percent for the first couple years, but eventually, _eventually_ it'd have to start increas-"_

_She interrupted him with a long-winded sigh. "Is this the part where you say that you want to start a family, Minato?"_

_He clicked his tongue, his grin dropped, and he raised a hand._

"_Guilty."_

«««»»»

"_Examine._"

«**S.A.I.C.C Configuration**»  
This is the center of the Strength, Agility, Intelligence,  
Charisma and Chakra mega-matrix. The configuration is designed to  
reinforce the single connected individual it is created to accommodate.  
«**Connection**»  
Naruto Uzumaki  
«**Primary** **Effects**»  
Physical reinforcement.  
Mental stimulation.  
Prediction of significant events.  
«Unique»

The SAICC configuration accounted for more than half of the seal. The rest of it dealt with a myriad of other experiments the Uzumaki partook in, of which he could scarcely understand, like the barriers. In examining it though, he was kind of hoping for a little bit more than-

«**Authorization Accepted**»  
Modify?  
[Yes] [No]

Oh.

«««»»»

«**Skill Lost**!»  
Examine [Lv.80(**MAX**)]  
«Active»  
Provides the user with information about the target.  
«Skill Evolution Bonus: Provides approximate statistics of a target»  
No cost.

He dismissed the notification without much thought. If he did the rest of it right, then all he had to do was take the brush, and carefully… _carefully…_

«**Skill Discovered**!»  
Examine [Lv.80(**MAX**)]  
«Active»  
Provides approximate statistics of a target  
No cost.

«**Skill Discovered**!»  
Observe [Lv.80(**MAX**)]  
«Active»  
Provides the user with information about the target.  
No cost.

He released a sigh of relief, finally able to seal the brush and ink back into the folder where he'd found it. Separating the old _Examine_ into two skills so that he didn't have to work with the second step every time he wanted to know something would be fantastic… but it wasn't the first thing he had wanted to do. He'd already tried to find whatever secret special and passive skills he might have, but as much as he tried, he couldn't find a thing. Whether that was because there wasn't any left, or that they were somehow hidden, he wasn't sure. That wasn't to say that doing what he ended up doing was easy, though, and if he had messed up… well, he didn't, but his motions were vaguely guided by the system anyway. He was still well aware of the supposed infallibility he had according to his _Uzumaki_ _Heritage_.

Immediately after finding out that he had free reign to safely change the seal, especially considering that he was knowledgeable enough to simply change some numbers, he had a seriously long debate with himself. This was, of course, because he could simply change his level. The primary reason against it wasn't that it seemed unnecessary, he knew it would be ridiculously easy to die no matter how strong he was; even when he looked to the kage at the very top, none had _ever_ died to old age. It was that the only reason the seal's power intake was limited in the first place, was so his body could acclimate to the chakra before it took too much too fast. The issue with that, of course, is that he had no idea how much he could safely take. As far as he could tell, his dad seemed to have compiled all the test results he could find and devised his own limit with an extremely complex formula he drew up, that Naruto personally had no hope of understanding. After an hour of indecision over whether or not he should simply give himself a heap of levels, he eventually left the option open and moved on to something else.

When he'd eventually found the portion of the matrix that modulated its power draw, he had discovered that the seal governing it drew a percentage equal to his level. That is, at level forty-three, the seal was automatically drawing forty-three percent power. This is the seal that he would change, would he give in to the temptation. Since he had until tomorrow, he would at _least_ add in some kind of cheat-code to do it from a distance, just in case – if he could set something like that up, then he wouldn't fuss too much over leaving himself to his natural progression.

The seal's simplistic representation of level insinuated a number of things.

First; and this one wholly positive, it could only make sense if all of his passives and skills were _not_ powered by the matrix, but only the attributes that he gained from leveling. It would only make sense if his skills and passives were simply a result of the matrix facilitating real, tangential progress. His attributes affected his body – and it was _weird_ to realize that this meant his 'muscles' had to be chakra constructs that constantly required recharge – but it was his skills, such as _Taijutsu Prowess_; that taught him how to use his body and make him effectively more powerful. Along the same vain, _Chakra Reinforcement _must be a boost to his ability that anyone could have if they practiced enough, though for Naruto himself the system effectively trained it for him. If the SAICC configuration was somehow destroyed, he would probably retain the benefits of his 'passives' – as far as he could remember how to use them – because they weren't actively born of the seal.

On the flipside, he couldn't increase the level of his skills or passives with fuinjutsu.

Second; and this one a bit worrying, it insinuated that his maximum level was one hundred… but at _jounin_, he could only go to level _eighty. _What was he meant to do to go past that? Would the seal let him manually enter in a higher level? He doubted it would be that easy, as his dad seemed to have an awful sense of humor, but he was _not_ about to-

**New Quest!  
**«**Reaching ****the Limit**»  
You can't reach max level, huh?  
Now, how would you fix that?  
That's easy, son.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Become Hokage  
**Rewards:  
**«New Class: Hokage»  
«Charisma +100»

Of course his dad would leave something like that in. He decided that level eighty was going to be fine.

Wait! Speaking of quests...

It only took a few seconds of flipping through his backed-up prompts to find what he was looking for.

****Ascension [3]  
****«Complete!»  
«**Uzushiogakure**»  
You achieved promotion, found the home of your ancestors,  
discovered what happened to it, found their hidden trove of  
jutsu and history, and discovered the source of your power.  
**Requirements:****  
**1\. Achieve Jounin Promotion [Complete]**  
**2\. Visit Uzushiogakure. [Complete]  
3\. Discover the library [Complete]  
4\. Discover the Uzumaki's great secret [Complete]  
**Rewards:****  
**[New Class: Jounin]  
Knowledge: Uzushio's Downfall  
Access to the Uzushiogakure Library  
Ability to modify and expand Uzushio's greatest asset

It was nothing, then, that he hadn't already fiddled with.

...but it did make him feel somewhat played with, though he could ignore that right now.

According to his clock, he only had a couple hours before he'd have to eat his fill and get to bed. He had to leave tomorrow, so this was – for now – his last chance to touch anything regarding the seal, and he still had a couple quality-of-life improvements in mind. It would've been nice, for example, if he hadn't needed to open his menu and press the screen to input his stat changes during his rush to save Kurenai from Zabuza.

«««»»»

_She watched in concern as Minato chewed on a pencil, muttering nonsense._

"_Don't you think it's a little bit convoluted?"_

_His cocked eyebrow told her that he disagreed. "Did you ever play Ninja Fantasy?"_

_Her mouth gaped. "U-uh, yeah? Didn't Uzu create that series? I remember playing I and II, and I was pretty jealous when-"_

_He waved her off and nodded, pleased. "Okay. It's just like that."_

"…_I don't follow."_

"_It's going to be just like a game."_

"_The _seal?"

"_Yep."_

"_Why? That just…"_

"_Why not?"_

"…_that's insanely disrespectful of all the work my family put into this seal."_

"_See? It'll be fun."_

"_He's going to hate it."_

"_How do you know it's a boy?"_

"_I can tell."_

"…_how? You know what, no, I don't care. Just trust me, the games were pretty fun, right?"_

_She reluctantly nodded._

"_So, seriously, do you_ really _have anything__ against it? It's better than just 'Hello, I'm an awesome piece of fuinjutsu reading from a script. Would you like to try increasing your power draw?'" he laughed at his own joke. "Besides, I think I can create a sweet illusion overlay, and I bet I could simplify the seal's functions into categories, like in a game. It would've been a lot easier if I could've pressed a 'make me faster' button, instead of having to come and change bits and pieces of the seal, right? It's not like the kid will be able to touch this kind of fuinjutsu for a long time, and I won't be able to come over to change it manually every time he wants to try something."_

"_I guess." While Kushina was a bit confused at his insinuation that the two would simultaneously be connected to the seal, she figured he had something in mind._

"_Sourpuss. You still think I'll just use our kid as a test-subject, don't you?"_

_She pouted. "No, I don't."_

"_Uh-huh. If it helps, I'm totally going to use our kid as a test subject."_

_She shook her head but couldn't hold in every giggle. "You're pretty bad at lying."_

_For just an instant, Minato's smile fell, and his eyes spoke of a silent anguish. Kushina mistakenly thought she imagined it, and promptly forgot about it._

«««»»»

Even for the final stage of a chunin exam, Hiruzen was far more tense than usual.

Outwardly, he watched with a tight frown as a surprisingly adept Kabuto Yakushi, previously a disappointing failure, tore apart his poor genin opponent with little regard to the fact that they were both of the Leaf. Perhaps Yakushi's allegiance wasn't quite to him, but nonetheless poor Neji would require a long stay in the hospital.

Inwardly, he prepared himself for the inevitable.

Orochimaru, once his prized student, had been skulking around during the second stage of the exams. Sasuke Uchiha, who Hiruzen had to keep careful watch over – in place of the boy's brother – had been assaulted by his old student in the forest of death, and forcefully given a cursed mark. The rest of the genin team fared no better, and poor Kiba Inuzuka was even eaten alive by one of the sannin's summons. It was only due to the extraordinary circumstances leading to the Inuzuka's death that he chose not to disqualify the two survivors once they reached the tower.

While the death of a genin, the debilitation of a second and the trauma inflicted on another were terrible things, it was all circumstances that Hiruzen had already seen before, and ultimately he was personally unaffected.

If not Orochimaru, but simply another genin team causing this, there would be no cause for concern, not a smidgen. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, and one of his jounin, a rank that was always in exceedingly short supply, was killed _within_ the village during a spy mission that Hiruzen himself assigned him to. Not only is it alarming that someone so skilled at remaining undetected - Gekko Hayate was extremely proficient in the _Transparent Escape Technique_ – was discovered, and that he was killed while stalking Orochimaru's presumed spy, but the man's wounds insinuated that the _sand_ were at fault. Jounin are irreplaceable, but it was in death that Hayate provided the most crucial of information.

In turn, after looking in all the right places, he became rapidly aware of the impending invasion, as did his most trusted shinobi.

Chunin exams were always a time for nerves to be tested. While great for the publicity, and the clients, the 'friendly' competition inherent to chunin exams necessitated that he open the village to foreign shinobi. Compared to other days and events, security would never be as high as it is during the chunin exams, but the village was likewise never so vulnerable.

It was almost unsurprising when Uzushiogakure was invaded and subsequently destroyed while hosting chunin exams, and the village served as an example to those that still practiced the event. Losing the Uzumaki was a harsh blow to their strength that the Leaf wouldn't soon forget. Almost overnight, one of his students went from being an amateur fuinjutsu practitioner to a leading expert of the art, by virtue of having a pittance more experience than the few that remained.

The Uzumaki came to mind because they played a part so crucial to learning of this invasion. A long time ago, though only shortly before Uzushio fell, the Uzumaki, in a show of faith, provided Konoha with its very own state-of-the-art mega-barrier, free of charge, simply to help its stalwart ally. Being designed to detect each and every person that leaves or enters the barrier's perimeter, and even able to individually recognize anyone by the second pass, it has only grown more and more useful as time has passed. The crystal ball linked to the barrier, to be used like a set of all-seeing eyes and ears, was especially irreplaceable.

"What are you going to do about the Uchiha missing his match?"

Knowing that a genin's _intentioned_ tardiness was the least of his concerns, Hiruzen waved his nonchalance down to the replacement proctor, who had been eyeing him keenly. In response, the man made the preplanned call to postpone the match and moved on to the next set. Hiruzen idly realized that not only did he forget to clap for the spy, but that he didn't so much as react when the kazekage's older son forfeited. He supposed he might be acting suspiciously.

"Playing favorites, Sandaime? That's unlike you."

He resisted the urge to frown. Orochimaru's ignorance to the barrier feeding the Konoha Intelligence Division all of his movements and conversations in the past week was a true blessing.

"If one of us were to be playing favourites, I would think it be you, Rasa. You've spoken twice more words of your jinchuuriki than for the collective sum of your other two children."

The skin of the kazekage guffawed and returned its attention to the arena below. Let it not be said that any of his students were terrible actors, but Orochimaru specifically was particularly good at it. Whence it came to the more subtle arts of ninjutsu, Jiraiya had boasted a significant specialization in stealth, Orochimaru was a brilliant actor, and Tsunade-

The Nara struck a brilliant trap through an otherwise obvious red-herring, and Hiruzen reminded himself that he had to focus.

Intelligence was a fantastic equalizer in shinobi, and the Nara clan boasted a particularly high rate of higher-ranked shinobi because of it. Shikamaru Nara, though he just forfeited in an obvious feat of apparent laziness, would probably be promoted. It helped that; indeed, he and most other Leaf shinobi were actively conserving their strength, so he had an excuse. As they were stuck in the middle of the arena and like to be slaughtered, Hiruzen had all of the Leaf contestants pulled aside and warned of the invasion on the cusp of the morning. To their credit, none looked any more nervous than was normal for contestants in a potentially life-ending tournament presented in front of their families and potentially important clients. As carefully trained members of the military, even as children, they were each aware of the dire consequences should they give the impression that they are aware of the invasion, and they did a fine job of acting as they were expected to. Kabuto Yakushi was the only leaf genin participating that was not told, as that would have defeated the purpose.

He realized he was tapping the side of his padded chair in a fit of impatience, and slowly halted the movement.

In the guise of protecting the crowd from the potential problem the ichibi jinchuuriki may or may not impose, which Orochi-Rasa readily agreed with his reasoning on, he had dramatically increased the security around and within the crowd. He had a number of his jounin standing around the rim of the stadium, and once he'd placed as much as he could without being overly suspicious, he had dozens more take on the guises of ordinary civilians sitting within the crowd. The rest of his jounin, as few and wonderfully powerful as they are, are accompanied by myriads of chunin and protecting strategically important locations and assets. Others were ready for exceedingly important counterattacks, and Jiraiya – his only truly loyal student, and the incredibly strong man he was – was at the helm of that. Orochimaru had made modifications to archaic summoning rituals and allocated them to his shinobi to wreak havoc throughout the city. Jiraiya's own summons would play a key role in repelling them.

He frowned. Speaking of jinchuuriki and jounin, he had expected the kyuubi jinchuuriki back by now. Setting the deadline for the final day of the chunin exam didn't mean he wanted the lad to miss it, especially when it turned out that they needed all the help they could get. In retrospect, he should have set the deadline for an earlier date on principle. There was never a completely clean and safe chunin exam, though this one was an admittedly harsh example.

He made every effort to keep himself ready to move once Sasuke Uchiha arrived on schedule, and the ichibi jinchuuriki left its waiting area to confront him.

In the wait that followed, he found himself drawn back to thinking of their own jinchuuriki. As opposed to Suna's, Konoha's jinchuuriki was healthy, fit and of a relatively suitable height for his age. He was also, without the assistance of his biju – almost at all – far above his peers in terms of ability. It was comforting to know that the Leaf's jinchuuriki was objectively stronger than the Sand's. He not only reminded him of his successor – may his soul one day find peace – but of his wayward students. The child was driven to better himself but was without a reason for that drive. Aimless as he was, he was oddly reminiscent of Jiraiya before the war, even if – by any other metric – he was just like his father, down to their crutch.

It was, perhaps, why Jiraiya had always been his ideal choice for hokage, and when he simply wouldn't accept the job, the man's student. An empty slate, over time, grew resistant to dramatic change, and such a man grew the closest to an abject objectivity than most others. While Jiraiya eventually grew to seek peace, traumatized by war, he was perhaps the most realistic man that Hiruzen knew. Minato was another stellar example of a successful man behind a strongly objective personality, though the blond man was quite different to either of them. By necessity, the best kage was both strong, objective, and willful. Both Minato and Jiraiya fit reasonably well, though not without their faults.

He glanced to the animated form of the Yondaime Kazekage who sat an arm's length to his side, rambling incessantly over the fight below. Rasa would have made a good hokage.

Orochimaru would have made a poor hokage. He was not objective, though he was incredibly strong and of unbreakable will. The man feared death so much so that he had experimented on the Leaf's own denizens even while in the running to take the spot of the yondaime. He had, at some point, discarded his _own_ _flesh_, and taken another's body in his experiments, in an effort to retain a youthful and endless life. By now, Orochimaru must have walked in a dozen other men's skins, and some women aside. Even for a shinobi the man was a monster, and objectively unfit to be hokage. He was the kind of cowardly ruler that would go on to sacrifice the village to save himself.

But like any insane individual, he saw himself in the right, even if he was – paradoxically – intelligent enough to know that he was in the wrong. He had sought to be hokage despite his misgivings and refused to see the reasoning behind Hiruzen's denial in his egotism.

Hiruzen knew that he was the man's target, but Orochimaru was his own mistake, and he was prepared to die to make up for that, so that others didn't have to. Jiraiya was adamantly against his decision, but it was Hiruzen's own to make. He could only hope that he brought the snake down with him, and that when he invariably fell, that Jiraiya would step up to take his place. He had refused before, but he knew that Jiraiya would sooner accept the position than leave it to anyone else. Danzo, who was otherwise technically best suited for the position, was effectively a traitor that worked within the scope of the law, and the only other S-ranked shinobi that technically remained in their employ was a drunkard that he had granted leave to in a moment of weakness. Tsunade proved of a poor mentality, however, and never came back.

He felt the flair of chakra before it went off and had already moved into a leap before the room exploded into smoke, Orochimaru and his two guards – two swiftly became four – followed him closely. They landed on the roof of a near building, and he watched wearily as those accompanying his student spread out, and immediately acted to summon Enma when they began spinning through handseals. His personal squad of ANBU had just barely followed them to the building by the time a twice-layered wall of corrosive purple chakra sprung up between and around the sannin's underlings, leaving his squad useless outside of the barrier's perimeter, and his student's guards protected from either side.

Despite his apparent success, the man still wasn't pleased. "So you knew!" Orochimaru sneered, staring to the arena below as Hiruzen likewise looked down, to find someone's mass genjutsu proving utterly ineffective to his ready and waiting forces. Aware that his squad would otherwise do nothing, he gestured for them to assist in the chaos below.

Despite himself and the situation, Hiruzen grinned and threw off his ceremonial robes, leaving himself in the garments – armor and helmet included – that he had worn in his youth. In his aging body, Hiruzen's speed and physical strength had diminished over the years, but his reaction time and sensory perception remained more than good enough to prove himself formidable. That said nothing of his knowledge, knowledge that hailed him world-wide as _The Professor_ among all shinobi. He knew that the title irked his offending student, since, if nothing else, Orochimaru was a scientist with an ego. Doubtlessly, he'd think the title belonged to himself.

Wearing armor of all things proved beyond paranoia that he was fully aware of the snake's plot, and it did not miss the man.

"It is of no matter," Orochimaru said, feigning indifference. "While I had hoped this would be more _satisfying_, you will get what you deserve today." While speaking, he began running through handseals in a sequence that Hiruzen easily recognized.

Adamantine staff in hand… he did nothing and watched in no slight satisfaction as Orochimaru's face twisted into something foul. The jutsu did nothing, his sacrifice void, the coffins and sacrifices destroyed and detained as soon as Orochimaru had waltzed into the stadium's kage box that morning. It would've been a ridiculous folly to let _that_ jutsu succeed.

"I may be older, weaker and slower, Orochimaru," Hiruzen's face morphed into a grin, and his tone picked up a competitive edge. "But I will _not _be easy prey. Make one mistake and watch what happens."

«««»»»

"You _have _to be kidding me."

**New Quest!  
**«**Konoha Crush**»  
Using the open borders typical of a nation  
hosting the chunin exams, the Sand and Sound  
forces, commanded by Orochimaru, have invaded  
Konohagakure. Minimize casualties.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Konohagakure survives  
2\. Save Konoha inhabitants [0/100] (optional)  
3\. Prevent Hiruzen Sarutobi's death (optional)  
4\. Defeat Orochimaru (optional)  
**Rewards:  
**1\. Retain [Jounin] status.  
2\. Self-respect.  
3\. Konoha's gratitude.  
4\. +?

There was so much to unpack from that pop-up, but the nature of the quest didn't leave him any time. He had honestly been ready to enjoy the break for lunch too, having accidentally come across a deer that looked unnaturally delicious after a month of military rations. Salty that he had to put out the fire and leave the raw meat as it was, he nonetheless quickly left without even bothering to seal up the cooking pot.

He'd had enough wits about him to leave behind an easy way to get back to Uzushio, but he'd never taken the risk to leave the same seal at home. If he'd known that they were going to be _invaded_ of all things while he was gone, he would've bitten the bullet and done it.

Fully cognizant that _someone_ was dying right now, he picked up the pace and effectively became a blur.

«««»»»

When the attack was so obviously predicted, Kabuto didn't let it affect him too much. After all, he still had another job to do… but when he turned to leave the stadium, he barely ducked a swipe that would have left him bereft of a head.

A familiar woman dropped to her feet in front of him. "Ya think you can just leave, kid?"

He scoffed and pushed up his glasses. "Anko."

"Anko-_senpai_," she enunciated. "Be polite. I'll have you know I'm your superior, as Orochi-fuck-face's _first_ apprentice. I'm not allowed to deal with him, because the hokage called dibs. But you? I'll _enjoy_ this."

It was no matter to Kabuto. This insane woman hadn't a clue what she was getting herself into.

«««»»»

A ridiculously big snake abruptly tore through Konoha's wall and into the streets like a starving Gamabunta would crash into a buffet. The damage made Jiraiya cringe.

_Poof_.

"Yo."

"Oi, Gamakichi! Are they all ready?!"

"Yessir! Hurry up, they're gettin' antsy!"

«««»»»

Kurenai carefully wove genjutsu around those that were affected by the spy's knock-out genjutsu, rendering the civilians within relatively safe and invisible. Once she was able to spare the time to look around and find her team, she discovered that the situation was being handled above and beyond expectations.

The hokage's decision to go extremely top-heavy by putting only his very strongest – almost all of his jounin – within the stadium had been an incredibly wise decision. They were able to effectively launch their own ambush, and those that may have killed some of them with the element of surprise could do nothing when the same advantage was instead given to the Leaf's most adept.

She spied her pair of genin safely retreating to the shelters, both to hide and to protect the civilians within, and decided they would be fine. The fighting within the stadium was already winding down, though the fighting outside of the stadium roared, ripe with shouts and explosions. Gazing to the massive purple barrier across from the stadium had her gritting her teeth, but she had to move on and help elsewhere. The hokage, who's arena was now surrounded with hopeful spectators that she was both annoyed at but could relate with, clearly wasn't doing so well. She spied someone's clone attempting to get through the barrier and lost a bit of hope when the earth it was made up of dissolved to dust.

The ichibi sat within the grounds of the stadium roared, and the sound set her back into the correct mindset. She had her job to do, just as – she gazed down to the shifting sands below – others had _their_ jobs to do. She could only hope that the hokage survived and that the Leaf's apparent mokuton user did his job, and she left with several others to commence the counterattack.

«««»»»

It was with a strong regret, but an equally strong resolve that Naruto avoided entering any of the conflict until he could find the old man. Nothing was more important than saving the hokage, especially when he still had so many things he needed to ask him about.

That, and of course; even if they didn't really talk, the hokage was one of his few acquaintances.

After finding a frazzled Kurenai, he immediately moved to her and asked about the old man. Now he was outside the stadium and looking to the next building over. It did not look good.

He ran up the building and stopped beside the huge purple barrier, eyes searching for someone he knew, when he spied _Squirrel_ – the ANBU that worked in the hokage's office that he accidentally sent to the hospital that one time. He still felt bad about that.

"Oi, Squirrel," he quickly stopped by the ANBU's side. The man sat crouched beside the barrier watching the battle within intently, while one of his squad mates futilely tried to create a leak in the barrier. When Squirrel cocked his head, Naruto asked what was going on.

The man behind the mask almost seemed like he wasn't going to answer, but when the hokage had almost gotten incapacitated three different times in one moment, he eventually did so. "Sand and Sound attacked. We prepared. Hokage-sama honourably chose to deal with Orochimaru, but you can _see_ how that's going. The barrier is impassable." The man's tone was dry, humourless and unhappy, understandably.

The hokage in question took a savage elbow to the face, blood erupted, and he barely stumbled out of the way of the blade held in the same arm when it extended. He watched as the hokage attempted a skilful counter that simply scratched the pale-man's cheek and landed himself on the ground.

While the exchange was invariably eye-catching, it caught Naruto's eyes for a completely different reason to the onlookers.

It was far, far too fast.

'_Examine. Examine._'

**[Hiruzen Sarutobi]  
**«Third Hokage»  
STR: 429  
AGI: 498  
INT: 260  
CHA: 200  
CHK: 5500  
[Buffs]  
[_Chakra Enhancement_]  
[_Taijutsu_]

**[Orochimaru]  
**«Snake Sannin»  
STR: 504  
AGI: 559  
INT: 255  
CHA: 100  
CHK: 6400  
[Buffs]  
[_Chakra Enhancement_]  
[_Taijutsu_]

…Neither Zabuza nor Mizuki had those buffs, so there was clearly something going on that he didn't know about. While he thought he might have a way in, would he even be able to do anything?

He ruthlessly squashed the alien fear that welled up in his gut, a fear that only festered at seeing numbers higher than his own for the very first time. The situation was terrible _before_ the enemy was suddenly a billion times stronger than him. He had to focus.

He watched as Hiruzen pulled off a legendary manoeuvre with a wind blade that ended with Orochimaru losing a finger when he should have lost his arm, and it occurred to him that he even if he was outclassed, he still had to try. He picked a pair of kunai from his pouch, shoved one into his off-hand for the _Kenjutsu_ boost to his agility and reflexes – actually, how the hell did that work? That wasn't a realistic passive! - and he chose that kunai to activate _Weapon Channeling: Lightning_ for the further boost to his reflexes. For the other, he carefully held it in the palm of the other hand and focused to bring about a jutsu he'd never _truly_ used, even if he left a variation of it back in Uzushio for convenience.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Chakra Transcription  
[Lv.1 » Lv.5]  
Speed of seal creation increased.  
Lifetime: 100 seconds » 500 seconds  
Uses: 1 » 2

A bright light blue seal emerged from his palm and flowed onto the kunai, drawn with chakra as opposed to ink that he didn't have, and he released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when it solidified onto the blade. He wasn't sure that would work.

"_Observe._" If he said it out-loud, nobody bothered to acknowledge it.

«**Kunai**»  
Once a gardening tool, the cheap yet sturdy  
nature of this weapon made it a popular item  
to add to any shinobi's arsenal. This kunai is  
transcribed with a _Hiraishin_ seal.  
[Effect: Hiraishin]  
Allows the seal creator to instantaneously teleport themselves,  
others, objects or chakra constructs anywhere within three feet  
of the seal location. This seal was formed with chakra, and as  
such is temporary. It allows for only two uses.

When he accidentally learned this from the scroll of seals, this is _not_ the way he thought he'd first use it, if he ever used it at all. It was going to be a problem to explain how he learned it, but it would be a much bigger problem if the hokage died when he might've been able to do something about it.

He looked back at the barrier. Really, truly looked at it, and estimated that the gap within the pair of barriers – the gap was just wide enough to comfortably contain the casters of the barriers - was about two and a half feet apart. Theoretically, with three feet to work with, he would be able to cross from outside of the barriers to within the inside barrier if his kunai is just about against the wall.

Time was ticking, the hokage just took an ugly hit from the tip of Orochimaru's blade that left his front swallowed in blood, and this was his last opportunity to change his mind.

'_Stats.'_

What appeared was an interface he created to be like an _Examine_ for himself the night before. It only showed totals, and as that made it easier to understand, it effectively replaced his old attributes page.

**[Naruto Uzumaki]  
**«Jounin»  
STR: 289  
AGI: 348  
INT: 384  
CHA: 73  
CHK: 9830  
Points: 15

"Points, Agility." He watched as the points value shifted directly into a zero. That was the voice command he'd wanted. Any little bit helped, and the effect of STR dropped off after a certain point, whereas AGI did not. He blinked when the interface did not change to show _AGI: 363_, but instead it presented a much heftier _AGI: 398. _That's an insane multiplier, and it did serve to make him feel slightly better about this. The sudden tension in his muscles attested to the difference.

Squirrel laid a hand on his shoulder. "You would be better served helping with evacuation instead of sitting-"

"I've got this, Squirrel."

"…you do, do you?" he asked doubtfully. "What do you 'got', jounin?"

The blond shook his head, content to milk some surprise out of what would ultimately earn him a lot of trouble. "Just have the medics on standby, the old man's in bad shape."

To his credit, Squirrel didn't ask again.

But he wished he had, when in a flash of silver, Naruto Uzumaki was suddenly _inside_ the barrier.

...inside the barrier, and well aware that the only way the Sandaime could be saved would be if he himself took his place.

«««»»»

Hiruzen struggled to stay on his feet, the gentle encouragement from Enma perhaps the only thing that kept him going to this point. While not uncurable, the poison lathering the sword that Orochimaru almost carelessly waved around would soon enough kill him within minutes, and he would bleed out before then.

Orochimaru laughed giddily, clearly quite capable of taking great pleasure from inflicting injury to his person. All Hiruzen had been able to do was remove a pinkie, and perhaps burn the man's back. The roof was utterly decimated by his own earth and fire collaboration jutsu, but it had done little for him in the end. It wasn't a terrible feeling being beaten when he had done all he could, but it soured his mouth that he would have squashed his student had he gone to the lengths for youth that Orochimaru had. Such disgusting acts should not be rewarding his ridiculously gross and malicious student.

"Does it feel good, _sensei_? It's often said that the master is to be _overjoyed_ when the student surpasses him in his trade." Orochimaru took an odd pose, one hand on a hip and the other over his chin. He was having far too much fun at Hiruzen's expense. "Maybe not in this case, I _suppose_. As you _are_ about to die, I would be _so_ glad to tell _all_ people of your last words, if you would have me."

As one of the few that could comfortably say they truly knew Orochimaru, Hiruzen could say with confidence that he did, indeed, _hate_ him.

But when he opened his mouth to offer his best and perhaps last rebuttal, he was interrupted by a flash of silver that he spied in the corner of his eyes, and both his and his student's heads snapped in its direction.

_Naruto_, of _all_ people, with a clone by his side, stood with the stupidest half-grin half-grimace – the most expressive he'd _ever_ seen the child – on his face.

"_Accept it!_" the boy yelled.

That boy was in way over his head! "Accept _what!_"

A slew of things happened at once.

A strong force of chakra pulled at his core, and he at once let it take him. He fell to a crouch by the boy's side, the clone took his place, Naruto offered him a wink, and in a flash of silver, he was suddenly _on the outside of the barrier_.

In shock, there was naught he could do but accept the emergency first-aid from his equally surprised guards and watch as the boy's clone dispersed and Orochimaru immediately moved to kill him.

«««»»»

Orochimaru was particularly displeased, but he had always prided himself in being able to make the most of a poor situation and killing Konoha's jinchuuriki was as good as killing Hiruzen himself. The biju would be released, and it would inevitably kill Hiruzen regardless, for he was the type of man to sacrifice himself to stop the beast. He felt an incredible welling of frustration in his gut at the old man surviving – for now – but he was patient.

His Sound Four looked quite confused, but he waved off their concern and gestured for them to keep doing what they were doing. They were useful, if perhaps a bit dumb. He spared a moment to look around, through the barrier, and seeing the old man getting treated so quickly ticked him off. Stopping to treat the old man when they _knew_ he could order the barrier away and attack at a moment's notice was rather insulting.

He was doing everything he could to help them, but by the very nature of an invasion, he knew that he would not be appreciated.

Without any of the flair he'd admit to using against Hiruzen earlier, Orochimaru stepped forward and dashed toward the stupid and nervous blond child, his sword already halfway through its arc by the time he reached striking distance.

He would always remember the _visible_ ease with which the jinchuuriki anticipated and moved _with_ the strike, the edge of Kusanagi's blade practically melding to and moving with the blond's chest until he twisted and bent back, his blade skimming the tip of the kid's nose but not actually piercing the skin.

A fluke.

He swept the blade back, watched as it was just as easily avoided with minimal movement, and kicked the blond harshly in the stomach. That was _not_ avoided and he punched forward with his off-hand and sent the blond sprawled to the floor.

"You've had _very_ impressive training for a twelve-year-old."

He stepped back and allowed the boy his space, content with his superiority. The jinchuuriki, shaking, pushed himself slowly to his feet, and spat a disgusting glob of blood. "_Thirteen_," he corrected.

Orochimaru truly couldn't care any less.

**«««»»»**

**AN**: Alright! Lots and lots and lots happened! I have viable explanations for why nobody else he'd checked had been buffed like Orochimaru and Hiruzen had, least of all being that only Naruto bothers being ready to fight 24/7. They'll come later in story. We had a bunch of old Minato/Kushina interactions, some world building, some optimization, some explanations for why things are the way they are, and a large portion of this story's chunin-exam arc completed this chapter.

I won't bother with writing up a _character_ _sheet_ chapter for the other story, because practically nothing has changed. I hope the wait was worth it, I can't realistically hold my old schedule at this point, and I might permanently shift into the long-wait + longer-chapter way of updating. It gave me a lot of time to think about the chapter and tie everything together.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **Altered the end of the last chapter a bit.**  
**

After seeing the effects of Naruto's BS supposed 'reaction-time' in past chapters, I don't doubt that some of you expected it to go nuts. Well, here it is. Sorry for the wait.

**Chapter 8**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

As painful as that punch was, the flash of silver text was everything he needed.

"_Thirteen_," he corrected, unable to hold back his smile despite the bloody upper lip, which he wiped. Orochimaru leaving him be for the moment was a strange tactic, but who was he to complain?

«**Buff Applied**»  
[Adrenaline]  
For the rest of the fight:  
STR/AGI: +15%, Reaction time: -10%

If his math was right, his reaction time was at an all-time-low of _none_. Accompanied by the flicker of seal creation in his left hand, that would be enough.

After just a moment – a moment that, as time passed, took less and less of it - of focus, the world around him slowed.

And slowed.

And it kept slowing, until it stopped moving at all. So, what did Naruto do? What _could_ he do when the world, including himself, was frozen?

**[Naruto Uzumaki]  
**«Jounin»  
STR: 305  
AGI: 416  
INT: 384  
CHA: 73  
CHK: 9830  
Points: 0

Well he could apparently access his UI, and he could think well enough, but that was it. He could only imagine how effective _Hiraishin_ could be once he was more proficient in it, if he so much as moved time the slightest amount… but he wasn't in that arena, isolated, facing Orochimaru in the middle of an invasion to test himself. He wasn't petty enough to risk himself like that.

He was important; he wasn't ignorant, but in thinking that…

He increased time, just a bit.

Even when allowing only the slightest movements, the resurging cacophony of sound – sound he hadn't even noticed disappear - returned with a vengeance. It was terribly grating against his ears, almost painful. Sound did not play well with time distortion. It took him a moment to remember that he needed to breathe, but doing so was difficult. He intended to speak, but only made the strangest sounding squeak before realizing that it just wasn't possible with movement so slow, not without what was probably an incredible amount of practice. Slowed time, as it turned out, did absolute hell to his senses.

After a long moment of consideration, which took very little time with its currently diluted state, he decided that attuning himself to roughly 70% was about as good for conversation as he could safely do. Fast enough that he should be able to speak, even if it will be much faster than usual, but slow enough that he would have enough warning to lower it again.

His ears certainly appreciated it, though he only then remembered that his sense of smell existed too. The smell wasn't anything noteworthy.

"Orochimaru." He said it more to test his tongue than anything else and found himself satisfied when the snake in question tilted its head in idle curiosity. "So… what's up with the plan to kill the hokage?"

He wasn't answered instantly. He watched as Orochimaru's gaze slithered to and between the corners of the arena, so quickly that if Naruto's consciousness weren't situated in a state of slowed time, he wouldn't have caught it. The sannin was clearly taking stock of the situation, with a speed that left him jealous. Orochimaru was brazen to do it so outwardly, though.

Naruto knew all about the _Four Violet Flames Formation_. After all, it was one of several jutsu the Uzumaki invented in their rush to defeat the 'Traveller'. It required either a shinobi or charged seal at each corner, and the 'resting' drain was fairly minimal for what it was, only intensive when it was actively preventing entrance. With enough flicks of the finger within a slight enough time-frame, he could cast enough jutsu to temporarily make the costs of the barrier higher than those holding it could reliably output, and destabilizing the inner barrier would lead to the outer barrier going down as well. It would be expensive, but he had a lot of chakra and he could absolutely bring it down.

But that was the last thing he wanted to do, so he couldn't risk firing like that – not even at Orochimaru. It would all hit the barrier in the end, and the barrier would only stay up until Orochimaru was more interested in killing the hokage than fighting him regardless. It kept both of them in, and he had to keep it that way for now.

Orochimaru's gaze lingered on the corner closest to the Hokage for an instant longer than the others. When the snake's gaze drew itself to his own, he couldn't help the sudden apprehension welling up in his gut.

With a tight frown, Orochimaru completely ignored the question to ask his own. "How are you doing that?"

Naruto paused, for a time that was certainly longer for himself than the other. He wasn't doing anything yet, so the question left him confused.

Orochimaru was a mite more impatient now than he had been, and Naruto couldn't help his gaze being drawn to slight twitches that would've been unnoticeable if he didn't have the time that he did to observe. The slight movements of fingers, the shifting of feet that moved without actually displacing, and Orochimaru only grew more irate.

Another moment, and the snake's scowl disappeared. Orochimaru straightened, released a sigh, and he took slow and calm steps back, creating more space between the two with an air of confidence that was otherwise strange for a man that was retreating.

"I'm more amazed that I missed this than I am that it happened."

Without even knowing why, his heart sunk. "What are you talking about?"

The abrupt amusement in the eyes of the snake made for an unpleasant sight.

"Na-ru-to..." Orochimaru seemed oddly introspective. "I should be angry, but I don't have it in me."

"What are you talking about?"

Orochimaru snorted. "I'm not sure there's a straight answer to that… it's _you_. It's not even the way you're speaking right now. It's everything about you. You're only _twelve _and really, look at you. What _they_ did to you. The way you've grown. Your chakra. Perhaps some may not notice – because it _is_ well hidden - but once you're looking for it, the sheer abundance of chakra packed into reinforcing your body is a monstrosity as clear as day. Minato and his girlfriend weren't as secretive as you've clearly been, and I find myself surprised even then that you're observing me like I hadn't learned to do until my thirties. Do you even have a personality? I bet that you used to have one, as a child. You've grown dull, haven't you? You only saved the hokage because it's your duty, and what would you have without that? You'd have killed a few shinobi so far, maybe. Nothing more. You're wasted potential. I despite waste."

Naruto could only blink dumbly in response, caught completely unprepared by the verbal lashing.

"I don't-" he was swiftly ignored and spoken over.

"Maybe I _am _angry. You contain a biju. You're supposed to be a human sacrifice, to act as a scapegoat, an outcast to be trained and sacrificed _again_ like every other jinchuuriki. But you? You're not even a real jinchuuriki! The nine tails was just an extra bit they tacked on for the sake of convenience. Have you ever used it? I don't think you have. In fact, I think you can't even do that much. You're a _useless_ monster. Trust me, I've spent the last twenty years creating monsters – and I could find a thousand better uses for the fox – but to see Konoha, especially its hokages, doing themselves what they ruined_ my _work and _my_ life for doing? For doing exactly what _they_ cited as the reason that _I_ didn't get the hat?"

"Do not fight me, Uzumaki. I am no longer interested. Leave. Do something _useful_."

If there was some small measure of truth behind his words, Naruto wasn't really fazed. Orochimaru was being intentionally provocative.

"I'm not leaving, and you can forget about me joining you."

"Ah?" the confusion that existed on the snake's face for just a moment was satisfying. Orochimaru scrunched his face unpleasantly, and his smouldering glare betrayed his attempt to hide his annoyance. "That was a waste of breath. You're even less fun than your father. Who in their right mind even _considers_ that I was aiming for that?"

An explosion going off within the stadium below swiftly reminded Naruto that this really wasn't the time to be talking, but there were too many things he didn't know about the situation to comfortably act on it just yet. Maybe it was a weakness of his, but he'd always been curious, and after exploring the incredible trove of information that was Uzushio's library, he was feeling rather put-out by his ignorance.

There was a difference between killing an invader and killing someone that, while dangerous, was such a prominent figure of Konoha's history. Orochimaru had been, and still was, touted as being both a powerful shinobi during the Second Shinobi World War, and later an incredible tactician during the third one.

"Why are you doing it like this, Orochimaru? I just don't see it. I get that you want to kill the old man, but there's so many ways to kill someone, and this is…" he gestured vaguely over the village, where bouts of ninjutsu were easily seen from their vantage point, "…way too much. I just don't get it, it's way too dangerous even for someone like you, who's supposed to be a prodigy. There's just no way that – and I'm sorry if you're listening to this, old man – you couldn't have killed him way easier by just poisoning his food or something. He's _old_, and he didn't age well. It wouldn't even have to be very deadly, a bad case of indigestion could destroy him."

If anyone asked what he was doing after the fact, assuming he survived this, he'd probably just tell them that he was just trying to buy time. If that were true, though, he knew that Orochimaru wouldn't be humouring him.

The snake was actually amused by the question.

"That would be a waste of time."

"But an invasion isn't?"

Orochimaru paused for a moment, looking about and clearly considering whether or not he had the time to humour him. Naruto's personal opinion was that the snake did _not_ have the time with how quickly he could see the invasion getting cleaned up, but it seemed the snake disagreed. Why specifically Orochimaru was no longer so eager to kill him he wasn't entirely sure, but he'd take what he could get.

The snake hummed a tune, though he hadn't relaxed his stance and no doubt wouldn't, that sent shivers down Naruto's back. The man was just that creepy.

"Explore my perspective," Orochimaru said. He still seemed amused that they were talking like this. "For almost ten years, I have been hunted by Konoha – and, mind you, I do mean Konoha. Nobody outside of Konoha cares to. At first, I was furious. There I was, performing my experiments, taking on risks and challenges and avoiding all of the legalities that would otherwise render my work impossible to perform, all for Konoha's benefit. Then one day, the hokage," he glared pointedly outside to the old man in question, whose injuries now seemed more or less under control, "with a few of his pets by his side, wandered into my lab like he owned the place and demanded that I turned myself in." Orochimaru scoffed, "Hiruzen is weak-willed garbage, a perfect example of a great-man that fell to the perils of age. His example is that which convinced me to walk the path I do, and I am only standing here today because he let me."

Naruto took it all with a grain of salt but couldn't help but want to ask more questions, even as he still waited for his last to be answered.

"Konoha's benefit?" he asked drily.

With great emphasis, Orochimaru turned to stare to the stadium below, where the two watched as the massive form of the ichibi was slowly restrained by a growing volume of wood.

Naruto blinked dumbly when he noticed who must've been using the jutsu. "Is that _Yamato_?"

How did his old sensei know wood-release, and how the hell did he get away with hiding it from him? _Why_ did he hide it? Man, missions would've been a lot more enjoyable with a roof above their heads of a night.

Orochimaru tilted his head. "Yamato? No, that's Koyama." Naruto frowned. "He was part of my first experiment, over twenty-years ago. He was the only one that survived, and wouldn't you know it, Hiruzen had no qualms with using him. It's not that I blame him for that, mind you, anti-biju jutsu is rather rare."

The snake sighed, turned back, and took a moment to observe him before speaking. "I'm attacking the village to prepare them."

"I don't understand."

Orochimaru shook his head slowly, a grim smile adorning his visage. "You wouldn't. You don't know Hiruzen like I do, and you don't know what's coming."

"Then tell me, _what's coming_?"

The snake snorted. "You wouldn't believe me." He looked again, for a moment, at the restrained ichibi. "Konoha should have at least three years, but that's not a lot of time. Hiruzen needs to go, and only someone that is capable of making the toughest decisions-" Orochimaru gave him a telling glance, and Naruto rolled his eyes, "-can replace him, or – more than Konoha – what we know as the Elemental Nations will not survive."

"It can't be that terrible."

"It's worse than the Traveller."

Naruto froze.

Orochimaru smiled.

"As I thought."

He grit his teeth. "_What_ is 'coming'?"

"I only know so much," Orochimaru admitted, "but I suspect that the great enemy of the Uzumaki was only a child compared to what is already here."

Naruto said nothing, fists clenched.

"I was simply going to kill you."

"You won't?" Naruto asked.

Orochimaru chuckled. "I wouldn't have told you all this if I wasn't going to test you before I go, but I will say that it's good that you exist. I'd thought that the most secret art of the Uzumaki was lost with Minato, and you're rather smarter than he was."

"Thank you?"

"_But_," Orochimaru frowned, "Hiruzen needs to go."

"As convincing as you are," Naruto said slowly, "I won't let you kill him. He is my _boss_, and I wouldn't be as strong as I am without him. I owe him for that."

The snake seemed disappointed. "I would rather he die than only lose his position. Hiruzen, as most do, believes his way is best. He would puppet whoever were to replace him whether he means to or not."

"…and you also want revenge."

"I admit to that."

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. Was he really considering this? It was lunacy. Orochimaru didn't even have any evidence… but if he were lying, then what could possibly possess him to attack Konoha so redundantly? The village was fine. The hokage would have been killed, but the sand and sound shinobi getting slaughtered throughout the village are achieving nothing but acting as a distraction, they are hardly serving to otherwise weaken the village in any way.

"They can't hear us, can they?" he asked, looking behind him to the hokage, offering a weak grin when he noticed the man watching him back.

"They cannot."

"I know what you want me to do."

"If you are reaching the same conclusion as I am, it's all the more reason to do it."

Naruto grit his teeth. He didn't want to be hokage. He didn't even know the beginnings of what it entailed, and he was much too partial to his free time, of which he knew the old man had very little of, even after he had decades to get used to his workload. That wasn't even considering getting rid of the old man, which he just couldn't do. There was just no way he could bring himself to do something like that.

"If what you say is true…" Naruto paused, unsure why he even considered it.

"I cannot prove it to you."

"Then there's _no way_ that I could-"

A pop-up? _Now?_

**Quest Updated!  
**«**Reaching ****the Limit**»  
Orochimaru has warned of a grave threat,  
that he believes the current hokage is incapable of  
combatting. It is more important than ever that you  
step up and take the hat for yourself.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Become Hokage  
**Rewards:  
**«New Class: Hokage»  
Charisma: +100  
Quest Chain: Preparation

"-do-uh, I don't…"

Was that proof? There was no way that the quest would have updated just for some flavour text…

His eyes froze on the bottom of the pop-up, which he hadn't immediately noticed. "Quest Chain…" he murmured, voice hollow, "Preparation?"

Orochimaru cocked an eyebrow.

That's it then. He would have to do it, that's the way it always was with his quests. It was instinct that he do a quest if it alluded to more, and it had always worked out for him.

…but he really didn't want to do it, not this time. There was just too much on the li-

**Quest Updated!  
**«**Reaching ****the Limit**»  
A grave threat is on the horizon,  
that the current hokage is incapable of  
combatting. It is more important than ever that  
you step up and take the hat for yourself.  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Find Proof [Complete]**  
**2\. Become Hokage  
**Rewards:  
**«New Class: Hokage»  
Charisma: +100  
Quest Chain: Preparation

His lips quirked upwards, and despite his most vehement wishes, he supposed the choice was simply taken from him. He shouldn't let his stubbornness stop him from doing something that was apparently so important.

"What would I need to do that Hiruzen can't?"

While surprised at the question, Orochimaru was quick to answer it. "Most importantly? Pardon me. The rest can come afterward."

"_What_? You're attacking the village right at this moment, Orochimaru."

"I didn't come here planning on being pardoned," he admitted, "but it's a strong example of an action that Hiruzen wouldn't take."

Naruto shook his head. "There's only one way I would accept that. I still don't know why you're 'helping' at all – and I use the term loosely – and neither do I know how the hell you know about _any _of this stuff_._ We would have to fight, and I would have to take you prisoner. Right here, right now, with no guarantee that I'll be more than a jounin by the time that you are executed."

Orochimaru's somewhat co-operative attitude dissipated immediately. "Risking an ally like that is foolish."

Naruto just wasn't going to have it any other way, Orochimaru was hardly an ally. "Those are my terms. If there is truly something out there somewhere, threatening to 'destroy the elemental nations' – there's just no way it's that bad, by the way - that you both want to, and _can_ help stop, then you put your life on the line. Or I won't do a thing."

He crossed his arms, but fully expected that the conversation was over and that the fight would begin. He would probably lose, maybe get killed – Orochimaru didn't seem to really want him dead, though – but Orochimaru would be caught afterwards. Even if it wasn't his intention, they had now been talking for more than long enough for the barrier to be surrounded. Battles between shinobi were always short, for any advantage gained typically ended in either a debilitating injury or an immediate death. In fact, he couldn't see anymore skirmishes outside at all, and he didn't sense any either – not that his middling sensing ability was fantastic from inside a barrier like this one. Even the ichibi was gone, and he could see what he assumed to be its jinchuuriki trussed up with what must be wooden bindings.

It occurred to him that it would be within reason for him to end the barrier jutsu now, but he was well aware that it would be advantageous to kill Orochimaru himself.

His own demand was unreasonable, but that was intentional because he just didn't want to deal with Orochimaru. The snake rubbed him the entirely wrong way, and he was almost certain that he was being manipulated. The only thing to really come of this was that he had learned – vaguely – of something that he supposedly had to prepare for, and that was… difficult to consider, but killing Orochimaru in front of the village would give him a solid reputation. It would help if he needed it, especially since he was otherwise beneath the radar.

From the perspective of those around them, he was a prodigious young jounin trapped within a powerful barrier system, forced to defend himself against the instigator of the invasion, who previously left the hokage on death's doorstep without visible injury. That wasn't even going into the fact that he was the one that saved the hokage, with a display of the long-thought missing _Hiraishin_ technique.

His gaze strayed to Orochimaru's left hand, where the little finger was missing. _Almost_ without injury.

Orochimaru bristled, and Naruto heightened his perception of time.

Everything stopped and he immediately discovered, to his advantage, how useful stopping time within a crowd was. He couldn't turn his head or his eyes (though he could focus on whatever was in his line of sight) because he – like everything else – was frozen, but through the purple tint of Orochimaru's barriers he could already see a few pairs of eyes pointed to the space just behind him.

He had as much time to consider his course of action as he wanted, but he didn't need much. Each hand still held a marked kunai and marking them had increased his uses per chakra-transcribed seal to three.

Time resumed, but slowly. The horrific pitch of heavily slowed sound threatened to overwhelm him for a moment, but he shrugged it off. He would say that time was slowed by a factor of about a hundred if he had to guess.

He flashed, which seemed to take no time at all, but he did not move. Instead, he had used _Hiraishin_ to turn around.

_Damn_ it was weird to see the trademark flash of silver for himself, for the amount of time it took for the light to dissipate.

A copy of Orochimaru – or the real deal, it was hard to tell – stood just a few feet behind him, holding a handsign. The most telling part of the image was the swirl of slowly dancing flames spilling from his mouth.

It was a good choice, Orochimaru saw him use _Hiraishin_ when he saved the hokage, and probably knew of the distance limit. A berth of flame like that would easily cover the three-feet radius around his hands.

That is, of course, if he only noticed last second.

Maybe a tenth of a second had passed, and the Orochimaru performing jutsu seemed to be realizing that he had turned around. That was quick.

He expended the last two of the seal usages in the first kunai to travel behind it, and finally tested moving in such a slow environment.

…he was barely slower than a civilian would've been in real time, and he easily tore off the snake's head, revealing it to be a clone. Unable to see through the resulting smoke, he used the first seal on the second kunai to move out of its cover. The original Orochimaru was still digesting what had happened.

Naruto was a bit confused, because there was no way that his speed in that strike had been accurate to the slow-down. There was clearly some advantage in being aware of the individual millisecond that made his movement more efficient.

He began reapplying the seal to the first kunai, but swiftly realized it would take a couple of real-time seconds. Seeing as Orochimaru was clearly about to speak, and that he was still pretty curious, he speed time back to 70% to hear him out.

It goes without saying that he was now rather confident.

Except Orochimaru, in fact, didn't speak. The snake was suddenly in front of him in a burst of unimaginable speed, taking him by absolute surprise.

He couldn't instantly freeze time, but every bit counted as he barely parried Orochimaru's blade and reactively stabbed forward with the other hand. The snake slid around the thrust with ease like he himself was party to slowed time, and Orochimaru's other-hand came up with fingers spread, the digits lit up with their own individual symbols, and slammed them over his stomach, the concentrated corrosive chakra eating holes through his vest and shirt before he could muster the focus to flash away.

**Skill Changed!**  
[Kyuubi Jinchuuriki]  
«Special»  
The nine-tailed demon fox is sealed in your stomach.  
«Modifiers blocked»

He staggered backward. The pop-up, accompanied by an unpleasant burst of sensation in his chakra coils, temporarily lost him the focus he needed to stop time, and Orochimaru – perhaps knowing that – took advantage.

His vest did nothing to stop Kusanagi as it tore through his lower abdomen. He could only take solace in that he had made enough distance between himself and Orochimaru that he was still technically in one piece… not that it would matter.

He'd never felt anything approaching this level of pain. It was all he could do to hold himself together.

«**Debuff Applied**»  
[Poisoned]  
STR/AGI: -25%, Reaction time: +25%  
Chakra Regeneration halted, -1%/min.

«**Debuff Applied**»  
[Kusanagi's Poison]  
Your organs are melting.

«**Debuff Applied**»  
[Dying]  
Uh… you're done, buddy.  
I hope you've made peace.

He couldn't even swear, blood filled his throat and the pain left him unfocused.

This was it. He had irreversibly fucked up. He refused to watch Orochimaru's smug expression, and instead found himself locking eyes with Hiruzen.

The old man seemed sad, but not shocked.

He had made an idiot of himself. What had he been thinking? He didn't even want to look for Yamato's face for risk of seeing disappointment. The man was scary enough without an excuse.

He felt cold, but it was a harsh feeling much too sudden to be natural.

"_**Do **_**not**_** be another failure, you are the **_**last**_** opportunity.**__**"**_

His throat cleared, somehow, and he knew what to do. He wouldn't have had to go through all this if he hadn't gone off so cocksure. To think that his trip to Uzushio was almost completely wasted was almost as bad as losing his guts.

His nerves numbed, somehow, and it caused the pain to clear despite the severity of the injury. He was dying, and he may very well die regardless, but he could at least bring his focus to bear now.

Slowing time as much and as fast he could, he whispered. "_Override_…"

"Set level: 100_._" He hadn't wanted to have to do this, but-

[Error]  
Source: [Namikaze Heritage]  
Issue: -100% Risk of Overexposure  
Effect: Level cannot be increased to 100

[Troubleshooting…]

Naruto read the text and froze, heart dropping almost literally. This could not be happening. This is the _worst-case scenario. _He was so absolutely fucked that it was unbelieva-

He felt it before he saw the pop-up, despite what he thought to be numbed nerves.

[Resolved]  
Command: [Override: Set level 100] (error)  
Alternative: [Override: Set level 72]

«**Level up!**»  
[Level 72 reached]  
Attribute Points +160! CHK increase+++!

Everything was suddenly very much silver.

Visible, silver chakra erupted from his skin, so much so that he could not believe that he was the source, lathering him like a thick miasma. The shell of chakra gave him the oddest of sensations, but he generally felt rejuvenated. Thinking quickly, he pulled up his shirt, ignoring the widening eyes of Orochimaru and whoever else was watching, lit up his finger-tips, dropped the kunai bereft of its transcribed seal and twisted his hand against Kyuubi's seal. Orochimaru had already begun moving toward him in a vain attempt to finish him off.

**Skill Restored!**  
[Kyuubi Jinchuuriki]  
«Special»  
The nine-tailed demon fox is sealed in your stomach.  
Chakra modifier: +100%. Chakra regeneration +5%/min. Cures poisoning.  
Promotes growth. Promotes healing. Unlocks Mindscape.

Holy shit. He shivered as the shroud of chakra doubled in mass and felt as his nerves lost the effect of whatever had numbed them in the first place. The injury remained immense, but he could care quite a bit less.

«**Debuff Removed**»  
[Poisoned]  
Removed by [Kyuubi Jinchuuriki]

«**Debuff Removed**»  
[Kusanagi's Poison]  
Removed by [Kyuubi Jinchuuriki]

Naruto was still dying, but by now and with poison removed, time was stopped. Orochimaru was frozen, and he was effectively immortal as long as time stayed this way.

This next part would be the easiest. It did feel extremely wrong to have given in and effectively cheated himself levels, but it was simply not a choice if he wanted to survive. Even if he could get away, and he _could_ because of the seal he left in Uzushio, it was rather personal now and he'd die without professional medical care anyway.

«**Strength milestone!**»  
Strength: 150 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +10%!  
Chakra increased by 400.

**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Intelligence: 150 reached!  
Chakra increased by 800.  
Chakra regeneration increased by 1%/min.

«**Chakra Milestone!**»  
Chakra: 5000 reached!  
Regeneration increased by 10%.

«**Agility milestone!**»  
Agility: 150 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +10%!  
Reaction time decreased by 5%.

«**Agility milestone!**»  
Agility: 200 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by +15%!  
Reaction time decreased by 7%.

«**Synergy milestone!**»  
Both Strength and Agility: 150 reached!  
Effectiveness of each point raised by 10%!

He allowed time to move just the slightest bit, so that the attribute points could actually do their work.

The vague sensation he still felt in his slowed body was doubled when his muscles began the process of reshaping. Knowing that the parts of the body he was feeling shifting were effectively chakra constructs did not make it feel any less real.

While this was going on, though he didn't even want to think about the blood gushing down his lower body, he took the moment he had to initiate the first jutsu he'd ever learned. It only took what amounted to a fraction of a second to begin the healing process, and a lush green chakra – which clashed pleasantly with the silver that had started simmering down once spent – enshrouded his palm and slowly began accelerating the healing of his internals. He wouldn't be able to completely save himself, both because there were some injuries that he definitely had that it just wouldn't fix, and because he would realistically be healing for a real-time second at best, but it would have to do something.

«**Skill Level Up!**»  
Mystical Palm Technique  
[Lv.61 » Lv.62]  
[Effectiveness: **66.85**% » Effectiveness **67.70**%]

…that must've been on the very cusp of levelling.

Even while time was slowed, Orochimaru was visibly moving, and he was at the point where Naruto had to start doing something about it.

_Observe_.

**[****Orochimaru****]****  
**«Snake Sannin»  
STR: 504  
AGI: 559  
INT: 255  
CHA: 100  
CHK: 6400  
[Buffs]  
_Chakra Enhancement_  
_Taijutsu_

…and having cheated…

**[Naruto Uzumaki]  
**«Jounin»  
STR: 466  
AGI: 885  
INT: 384  
CHA: 73  
CHK: 13130  
Points: 0

He would've breathed a sigh of relief if he were able, but then again, he had already been burned for being overconfident once.

Naruto fastened time from what would've been half a percent to two, and tested his movement, trusting that his vest could more-or-less keep his organs from spilling out. He stepped forward at a pace that would have been normal for him just half a decade ago. Having complete and utter control of his movement was an incredible benefit, doubtlessly speeding him up even further than he must already be. To his credit, Orochimaru reacted immediately, but the disparity between the two was clear. Regardless of the extreme advantage Naruto had in reaction, the speed was a complete game-changer on its own.

He didn't bother picking up the kunai he dropped, and instead parried Kusanagi with the side of the arm lacking it – Kyuubi once again purging poison allowed this – and used the same hand to grab Orochimaru's wrist. While Orochimaru was flexible enough that he probably would've managed to avoid getting hit regularly even with the new speed disparity, once grabbed he was a sitting duck without quite enough strength to completely overpower Naruto's grip, and Naruto had no problem pushing forward with his other side and slicing off Orochimaru's arm from the elbow.

The strength Orochimaru had put into pulling back his arm before-the-act acted against him when he lost it, and he staggered back.

Disarmed and disoriented, Naruto took his chances and ripped off part of his own shirt. He quickly transcribed a seal onto it and stepped into Orochimaru's personal space – something that was obviously risky, to the point that he was exceedingly careful to keep out of the way from Orochimaru's mouth (the snake had supposedly inventing using fuinjutsu through the mouth, which was just weird) and he slapped him with the improvised seal hard enough that Orochimaru was flung across the makeshift arena.

Orochimaru slid back, having landed on his feet, but before the snake could do anything else the seal activated, and he collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.

Time restored to full, almost of its own volition, and Naruto felt awfully dizzy.

_Splash_.

…he looked down to the disgusting sight of some of his intestines laying over his feet. In a bout of uncharacteristic incoordination, he slipped and tripped over it.

"Ugh, fuck."

Really, with the way he must've been moving in real-time, there was no way he shouldn't have expected it.

He barely snapped off what he hoped was enough jutsu toward the closest corner of the barrier, but the blood-loss had already claimed him by the time it hit.

«««»»»

When their plan had initially gone off without a hitch, and the hokage was successfully imprisoned within their barriers, Tayuya was confident.

When her boss's reincarnation technique didn't work, she was of two minds about it. While the first doubts of their eventual escape found perch in her thoughts, she was actually a bit relieved – after all, the jutsu couldn't sacrifice the life of her best friend if he didn't use it. Any worries that Orochimaru's plan would fail - whatever that entailed – were for naught when he continued on to relentlessly beating the hokage even without the jutsu.

The first sign that something had really gone wrong was when another person had suddenly appeared within the barrier. The second sign that something had gone wrong was when the old man, who may as well be dead by this point anyway, was suddenly _outside_ of the barrier.

She wasn't sure what she was meant to be doing at that point, but she received the sign to wait, so she did. While the barriers acted unintentionally to block sound, she could still catch the gist of the conversation the two within held, though two barriers between them would've made even that impossible.

Even then, Tayuya had no idea what they were talking about, or why Orochimaru was humouring the enemy shinobi. The formation was getting surrounded by an increasing number of watchers by the minute. Just to make the wait more unbearable, she was – as an Uzumaki – having to pick up the slack for upholding the barrier and her weaker teammates were really putting a strain on her. She was quite glad when she saw a clone of her boss come into existence behind the blond.

The third sign that she shouldn't have come arrived when she blinked, and the clone had somehow dispersed while the Leaf shinobi had moved a fair distance across the arena.

She was a bit miffed when it looked like Orochimaru was about to start talking again, but she was pleasantly surprised when – in a flash of movement that was just way too fast for her to make out – Orochimaru did some kind of snazzy sealing jutsu and disembowelled the other shinobi.

Figuring that she should really start focusing, since Orochimaru was undoubtedly about to have them end the jutsu and fight their way out, she was left gobsmacked when it all went tits up.

In one moment, her boss looked like he was about to boast. The next, the skin of the kid he'd disembowelled exploded with a burst of _visible_, silver chakra and Orochimaru rushed forward. In a burst of movement that was simply beyond her; the blond undid Orochimaru's seal and lost a huge chunk of his arm parrying Kusanagi, one of her boss's arms was flicked into the barrier and incinerated behind the Leaf shinobi, and the rest of Orochimaru went sliding toward her, collapsing moments later.

The Leaf shinobi was done though. Even if he might be saved with _immediate_ intervention, they'd just hold up the barrier, wait for Orochimaru to figure something out, and failing that-

The fourth sign that something had really, really gone wrong was when the blond, despite collapsing while he did so, sent an absolutely terrifying fucking _blizzard_ of wind-blades toward Kidōmaru's corner. While sound was fairly muted by the barrier, the screeches of wind that he had unleashed almost tore apart her ear drums. Her teammate didn't even have a chance to dodge, the power behind the attack immediately broke through whatever pittance of chakra he had to reinforce the barrier in that moment, and Kidōmaru was sliced to bits.

It was obvious, to her, that there was only one way out of this.

As the second barrier wavered, which was all that separated what remained of the Sound Four from the shinobi outside, she abandoned her position and made a mad rush toward Orochimaru. She could see the glowing navy cloth that the Leaf shinobi had slapped onto him and knew that if she could just rip it off that they would be okay. Orochimaru would have a way to get them out of this; he had never failed to surprise, and always had back-up plans even for his back-up plans.

The plan went to shit the moment she grabbed it. Instead of pulling, it was all she could do not to land on her face when her hand stuck to it and what felt like all her energy drained from her body. Falling onto her boss was distinctly uncomfortable for a myriad of reasons, but she simply lost control of her body.

Tayuya didn't see what happened to Sakon, Ukon or Jirōbō, but within seconds of her fall she and Orochimaru had already been tussed up in chains and thoroughly molested by fuinjutsu.

«««»»»

_Knock. Knock._

Hiruzen had always marvelled at his assistant's ability to hold him up just as he finished up for the night. It was later than typical for him - paperwork had piled up even more than usual after the invasion the day before, but it was a necessary evil. He placed the form he had just completed into his outbox and, stretching, called them to come in.

The door creaked open and the head of his assistant, a dainty middle-aged woman, poked through the gap wearing an exhausted but polite smile. _Both_ of their workloads had been increased, he supposed. "Dr. Migaki's post-surgery report just came in."

He accepted the report and his assistant left quietly. He was struck with an idle thought comparing the way she closed the door to the way that, undoubtedly, it would have smashed to pieces if Naruto had done so. It hadn't happened yet, but he'd place bets.

Hiruzen skimmed through the brief report rather quickly and couldn't help the breath of relief as he put it down.

«««»»»

Seeing as he had been in and out of consciousness since the battle, it was of little surprise when Naruto opened his eyes and the bare, off-white ceiling of his hospital room greeted him.

Beneath the hospital bed sheets, he gingerly traced the scar over his stomach and bit back a groan as an insidious spike of pain laced his side when he applied too much pressure. Wincing, both because his eyes were having trouble with the lights and due to the pain, he spared a glance toward the solitary window adjacent to the bed.

He waved haphazardly in the direction of the guard beside the window. It was dark out, though the lights they insisted in keeping on in his room almost made that irrelevant. Unless he'd seriously slept in, this was his second night in the hospital.

…and it was rather boring. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the free healing, bed and breakfast – well, he didn't _really_ appreciate the breakfast – but he hadn't even been allowed visitors after the first few stressed him out, having been unable to think straight. Reading didn't do anything for him either, because after one-tap of the cover he'd already know the contents of a book.

"Can I have something to eat?"

He felt as his guard, who was _of course_ Squirrel, released three quick pulses of chakra over the room and through the walls. He already knew that was how he called for his food, because he'd felt the same thing maybe half a dozen times just that day alone. He'd been hungry, and with a lack of anything else to do, eating was how he'd been passing the time between naps.

He was feeling much better mentally, at least. His mind wasn't nearly as clouded as it had been earlier in the day and being able to think clearly naturally brought him questions.

"You can talk, right?" Squirrel cocked his head forward, which he hoped was a yes. While they had briefly talked before he rescued the hokage, that was extenuating circumstances. "What ended up happening to Orochimaru?"

Squirrel seemed to consider the question for a moment.

"Orochimaru and his surviving lieutenant are awaiting trial."

Squirrel's voice was gravelly but not terribly deep. He sounded like someone in their late thirties.

"And what about the rest of the invasion? How are we responding to the Sand? What happened to the Sound shinobi?"

He personally doubted that the Sound village was anything but capitulated without Orochimaru, but the Sand village was an entirely different issue, as they hadn't fully committed. It would've been, despite their preparations, much more of a blood-fest had the Sand gone all-in. If it were up to him, the Sand wouldn't be around much longer, but it wasn't.

Squirrel took some time to consider the question, leading Naruto to believe that there were probably a couple things he wasn't qualified to know. A haggard hospital aide entered the room meanwhile and gave him a tray with what looked a microwave dinner, and a glass of water. Naruto whispered his thanks.

"We suffered minimal casualties. The Sound has dissolved. We have leverage against the Sand."

He chose not to comment on the lack of detail, instead thankful for the simple answers.

"Oh, like the ichibi jinchuuriki?"

This mashed potato was actually pretty good.

Squirrel hesitated but eventually nodded. "Among others."

"…but we aren't just going to bribe and threaten them, right?"

Squirrel tilted his head.

Naruto rose an eyebrow in response. "They _attacked _us, _while_ we held a non-aggression pact."

"The Sand is worth more to us alive."

Even in saying that, Naruto could tell that Squirrel wasn't entirely stricken with that belief himself, but he wasn't exactly about to push it. There were other topics.

"So… why exactly do I have one of the old man's guards for myself?"

He could feel Squirrel's disappointment as if it was physically manifested.

"You would have to ask the _hokage_."

He could've just said 'You're important now, and deserve protection!', but whatever.

**«««»»»**

**AN:** The wait has been a combination of writer's block, wanting to be absolutely sure this chapter came out right – because holy shit, the response to this fic has _doubled_ since last chapter and it terrifies me - and I've been pretty busy. I'm not about to promise a quick next chapter, but it will be easier to write than this one was.

**Edit: **changed story category from crossover Naruto/Gamer to just Naruto.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN**: Went back and added the Ascension [3] quest completing in chapter 7, but you didn't miss anything if you haven't seen it.

**Chapter 9**

««««««««»»»»»»»»

Strangely, it was the hokage himself that took him out of the hospital. He wasn't totally recovered, but he was as good as he was going to be within any respectable time-frame. At a wordless gesture, he fell in by the man's side as they left.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Hokage-sama." A white lie. The thick scar that Kusanagi left him stung with each movement. "You looked dead for a few minutes there."

Hiruzen nodded curtly. "Age will kill me before injury, I suspect."

He was fine, then.

Neither spoke for the next few minutes, leaving Naruto vaguely uncomfortable. He was noticed as much as the hokage as they walked through the streets, obvious gesturing and whispering directed toward them. It wasn't something he'd experienced before, but it wasn't exactly distracting or harmful, so he ignored it.

Hiruzen spared him a sideways glance. "What did you and Orochimaru talk about?"

"This and that." Naruto said, gesturing vaguely. "He thinks something real dangerous is going to happen in a few years, and that having you in charge would be a bad thing when it happens."

The hokage snorted, and Naruto was somewhat suspicious by his lack of concern. "I'm sure it has nothing to do with our personal relationship… did he give any specifics?"

He struggled not to fidget. "What do you know about the Traveller?"

"Very little," Hiruzen admitted.

He turned a corner and Naruto was quick to follow. In this direction, they were probably going to either the academy or the monument.

"The Uzumaki thought he was some kind of god."

Having actually said it out loud, he was already beginning to doubt the sentiment.

"I see." The hokage showed no outward reaction.

"Orochimaru seems to think there's another one. A stronger one."

"Do you?"

It was asked simply, but there was a lot to that question, and it gave him pause.

"My…" he struggled to come up with a term, "ability? It agrees with him."

_That_ elicited a reaction.

"_But_ that doesn't mean it's going to happen," Naruto said quickly, "it's not like I can see the future."

Something about the hokage's shift in posture put him on alert.

"Let's say that you can, and that there is such an event on the horizon." Hiruzen said. "What, then, will you do about it?"

Naruto was intensely aware of the shadows that surrounded and followed the two of them.

"Nothing." The hokage cocked an eyebrow. "That is, nothing that you don't want me to do, of course, Hokage-sama."

Something was strange, in how easy that was to say.

The old man stopped, Naruto stopped, and Hiruzen's gaze met his own and held it. After a few seconds, he nodded minutely and continued walking, Naruto quick to follow.

"When were you planning to tell me that you read the forbidden scroll?"

He was quick to bow his head, but he didn't offer an excuse as the two moved.

"I assume it was an accident…" Naruto nodded, and the hokage almost seemed relieved, "but that you didn't tell me is, of itself, malicious."

"I'm sorry."

The old man almost tsked as he shook his head. "The ends often don't justify the means, but it did save my life – and assuredly others - _this_ time. It would have been a different story if you decided hiding your ability was better than using it."

He accepted the warning gracefully. Keeping that silent, while it seemed necessary at the time, ultimately wasn't.

"What did you learn in Uzushio?"

"In Uzushio? Uh," he fiddled with his pouch, which was thankfully still intact, politely ignored the tensing of the shadows around them and removed a scroll. "My report." He really should've seen to getting that to the hokage earlier, but the man would've been busy anyway.

It showed a certain level of trust, that the hokage simply took the scroll without even a cursory check for hostile fuinjutsu. He had shown, after all, his aptitude for placing debilitating fuinjutsu with a touch of his fingers.

It was slipped into a pocket. "Summary in brief?"

"The country is set beneath an aversion matrix. If I hadn't been Uzumaki, or maybe if I didn't have the seal, I wouldn't have been able to enter. Uzushio was destroyed during their own chunin exams the same way that we were just attacked. The library is intact, and I read, well, all of it." That drew a speculative glance. "The village is in ruins, but I did find my seal's chamber and I experimented a bit." He gazed meaningfully into the hokage's eyes, "I know my parents, and I have a certain level of control over the seal, now."

"When you burst into silver chakra…"

"I took as much as I could, but there's a fail-safe stopping me from taking more of it. I think it would make me sick, or something."

"Minato said as much."

They walked another corner. It was clear, now, that Hiruzen was taking him up the less-used path to the top of the monument.

Naruto would ask his own questions. "How are we retaliating?"

Hiruzen seemed to expect it. "Suna has already paid most of their due in blood, and Orochimaru will soon be executed."

Orochimaru's fate was expected.

"Suna tried to do to us what Kiri did to Uzushio." It went without saying, what Naruto thought of that sentiment.

Hiruzen nodded. "They did, in fact, try." He smiled; a slight, chilling grin. "Of course, they failed. They lost their kage before the fact, and after? We have their jinchuuriki. We've imprisoned the late kazekage's family. We sent their best to their graves, and we're still pulling intelligence from the rest. Suna lost their jounin and kage, so they are left with very little in the way of a command structure. They will give us whatever we ask, under the _threat_ of retaliation. Retaliation in and of itself, at this stage, is counter-productive."

His protest died before it could leave the gates. "I see."

Was it really that easy, though?

"What did it cost?"

"Comparatively little. Our casualties include twenty-six civilians, sixteen genin, seventy-three chunin and five jounin dead, with roughly twice that injured."

He didn't like the ease with which the hokage listed the casualties.

"That's-"

The hokage spared him a _look_. "Suna lost over two hundred shinobi, and twice as much were contained." When it looked as if Naruto was still ready to question it, he continued. "It may be less, overall, than a quarter of their shinobi population, but most of their jounin were committed here. One hundred jounin is… _we_ hardly have twice that much. It's the jounin, those at the top, that make a village major. It is no matter what anyone else says. If we were _not_ prepared, _and_ Jiraiya unavailable to counter the summons… we would have suffered ten times as much – at least. That Suna no longer has the capacity to attack or defend with such power, and especially as they've temporarily lost their jinchuuriki and their kage is dead, I would reclassify it as a minor village."

"A _minor_ village," he said. "Sunagakure?"

Something seemed fundamentally wrong with the sentiment. They had _far_ too much land to be minor, even if it was somewhat unworkable.

It wasn't his place to question the decision to give the jinchuuriki back.

Minutes passed, and dry grass crunched beneath their sandals as they took the older grass-ridden path to the top of the monument. He wasn't sure why they didn't take the newer, better-maintained path, but maybe the hokage simply preferred this one.

Though it was morning, a pleasant warmth enveloped the pair, a soft murmur of a reminder that they lived in the Land of Fire.

"How do you feel about Team 8, Naruto?"

The topic was rather unrelated to the last, and it took him a moment to adjust his mindset.

Even having spent the past couple months with the team, he didn't really have a formulated opinion on them. "Team 8 is progressing as any other fresh genin team. Kurenai follows the spirit of the law if not the law itself, and she works closely with both genin. The genin themselves are both intelligent and work hard."

It sounded mechanical; he knew.

"Would you spend time with them outside of the team environment?"

"Uh, is that an order?"

"No."

"I don't think so. They each have their own things to do."

"A shame," the hokage said. He seemed disappointed, but Naruto wasn't entirely sure why.

Oh. "Oh."

Hiruzen perked up but didn't speak. They were already halfway up the path, now. The monument was rather tall, so he must've spaced out at some point.

"You wanted me to make friends with them."

"I did."

"You think I'm a flight risk."

Hiruzen's movement paused, and he stopped alongside him. The old man steadily met his gaze.

"It may have come to mind," Hiruzen said delicately, "but I did not merely place you with Team 8 for your own sake, and if the opportunity hadn't presented itself, I would not have done something else instead. The risk of absconding is present with every shinobi, and it is part of my work to minimize that risk whenever such an opportunity arises, for every shinobi that I am responsible for. If it means anything to you, I believe you are one of the most loyal shinobi I have."

Naruto, for his part, held the hokage's gaze and eventually nodded. "Okay." It was obvious in retrospect, and equally obvious that the hokage was being as accommodating as possible. The old man didn't _need_ to waste his morning on him, the common information packet circulating around the village covering the results and aftermath of the invasion would've sufficed for what he _had_ to be told. Anything extra, like practically everything they'd said so far, was the hokage being polite.

They continued walking, and something else sprung to mind.

**[Hiruzen Sarutobi]  
**«Third Hokage»  
STR: 185  
AGI: 210  
INT: 260  
CHA: 200  
CHK: 5500

"Hey, how come you were so much stronger fighting Orochimaru than you are right now?"

Hiruzen frowned but didn't slow. "In what way?"

"You were more than twice as fast and strong against Orochimaru. You were _buffed_, if that makes sense, with chakra enhancement and taijutsu, but you're not anymore."

He received a sharp glare for his troubles.

"You did _not _tell me that you could quantify another person's ability."

"Uh, I…"

Did he even tell him that he could quantify his _own_ ability? How was he meant to know what the hokage was and wasn't awar-

"Just as you did not tell me that you could operate under a heightened state of time. Yes, I noticed, just as Orochimaru had."

He bowed his head. Again. That was a fair example.

Eventually the glare let up, and he heard a hell of a sigh.

"If there's anything else, I want to hear it later. _All_ of it, I'm serious. As for your question…" he clearly debated whether or not to answer it. "_'Chakra_ _enhancement'_, as you have so eloquently put it, is a technique borne of the Senju clan. Its most prolific user would be Tsunade Senju, but anyone within Konoha that wishes to learn it, may. Very few are capable however, and even those that are capable must set a very long and tiring schedule to become any good at it. It is often confused for a combination of chakra's propensity to strengthen the body from use and the Senju's natural resilience, but I assure you it is a technique in its own right. As for what you are referring to as 'taijutsu', I have only an inkling."

The hokage froze for a moment. Then, as he continued moving, his steps seemed more purposeful, his breathing more controlled, his movement less wasteful. "If you can, check me again."

**[Hiruzen Sarutobi]  
**«Third Hokage»  
STR: 259  
AGI: 305  
INT: 260  
CHA: 200  
CHK: 5500  
[Buffs]  
[_Taijutsu_]

"That's it," Naruto said.

Hiruzen nodded. "Calling it 'taijutsu' is an inherently incorrect, gross over-simplification. It's, simply put, a method of placing awareness over your own body. It's much more difficult and complicated than it sounds, and very strenuous. Once learned, it's not something you'd ever use outside of a battle. I can count on one hand those in the village that have this particular technique down-pat."

It was a bit wishy-washy, but it was familiar. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like something he'd been able to do unintentionally in slowed time. The reason it was strange, though, was that he already had a _Taijutsu_ skill that practically gave the same approximate boost, and the variation he was sure that he had in slowed time wasn't quantified for himself. A natural skill that isn't a literal skill – with a pop-up and all – didn't feel natural at all, not for him. He'd have to experiment with it.

"I think the seal fakes that for me, somehow. Gives me the benefit of that without any effort."

It was less obvious, watching the old man put the technique on hold. Bereft of it, the hokage still moved efficiently. "Interesting. The seal not only gives you power, but effectively multiplies itself?" He shook his head. "I had wondered how Minato had managed to spend so much time in Uzushio, but if he was working to replicate something like that, I understand."

He had kind of hoped that the old man knew a bit more about it than he did, but evidently not.

Something about the last sentence struck him as odd, though. According to the records, his dad really wasn't fiddling with the seal _that_ often.

"Naruto…" they hit the peak of the trail and moved to walk toward the edge of the mountain, overlooking the village.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"When was the last time you talked to Yamato?"

"Uh…" he had to think about it, for a moment. He hadn't had any reason to visit his old teacher. "I don't… not since our last training session."

The hokage seemed contemplative. "You couldn't find him, or you didn't try?"

"I didn't try. Nothing really came up."

"Just as with Team 8 outside of training, yes?"

He frowned, developing a vague idea of what the hokage was thinking. "…I guess."

A flicker of wind rustled his hair pleasantly, the hokage's robe fluttered briefly, and the two stopped upon the chiselled, massive monument. Down below, the village spread. It actually felt larger from above, he realized, and watching the movement below gave a broader clarity to the time of day – it was still morning – but he didn't otherwise give much attention to the sight.

He noticed that the old man was watching him rather closely.

"What?"

The hokage seemed quite disappointed and shook his head. Atop the peak of the monument, the ANBU that had followed them had arranged themselves around the group, facing away from the pair. There wasn't a whole lot of shade up here, so they simply stood in the open. It was rather unusual, Naruto thought, seeing so easily those who he had only sensed to be following them.

They spent a moment, a long one, just doing nothing. Hiruzen observed the goings-on below, and Naruto fiddled with his replacement vest, making sure they'd put everything back into the right pockets.

"We need to discuss your role, going forward."

He blinked, idly patting one pocket. "No more Team 8?"

"No more Team 8," Hiruzen confirmed. "Two jounin for one genin squad was already going to be too much. Most don't even have one." The hokage grinned. "You've put yourself in an interesting and _very_ useful position."

Naruto hummed, watching as a pair of children – far, far below – began pointing at the two of them and yapping at one another. The hokage's robe was pretty eye-catching, he supposed, even at a distance.

"Because I beat Orochimaru?"

"That is a large part of it. That you used the hiraishin is just as important, and that in conjunction with your looking like your father, is perhaps even more important." He paused, giving off the vibe of waiting for a question, but when one didn't come, he pushed on. "To put it into perspective, you'll have to let me ramble for a minute."

He waited while the old man put his thoughts together.

"I would be the first to say that the quantity of men at any one army's disposal is a decisive factor in any given battle, but I would also argue that the strength of overwhelming numbers would, eventually, plateau. There is a point where more men are not necessary, and another when having a larger army simply becomes a hindrance to logistics." He paused again, but for a much shorter time. "There is no such limitation in overwhelming quality, aside from the fact that it is not easily produced. Overwhelming quality has an incredible advantage, in that those that are truly powerful can often overcome an otherwise overwhelming numbers-disparity."

Naruto listened dutifully, if not somewhat confused by the shift in topic. "And what you're saying is…"

"On his own, your father dealt with over a thousand men toward the end of the third war – all in one, very short battle. It was only the threat your father represented, and the damage that he had done, that forced the Tsuchikage to sign the armistice that I presented." When Naruto didn't respond, he continued. "We have the largest shinobi population of any village, but what of our quality shinobi, Naruto? Who comes to mind?"

"The _very _best? Jiraiya," he paused, "you. Maybe Tsunade, I'm not sure."

They didn't have a lot of uniquely powerful shinobi, he realized.

"And below those of S-rank?"

"Kakashi Hatake," that one was easy, "Yamato, your son, uh… Gai? Danzo, maybe? I guess a few of the clan-heads, and probably some ANBU."

Hiruzen nodded. "You missed a few other jounin, but that was otherwise accurate. What of Kirigakure?"

"The seven swordsmen," he said easily, "which are said to be borderline S-ranked, but it's hard to say if that's true. There's also two jinchuuriki, one of them being the kage, and I think there was a Mei Terumi as well."

The hokage hummed, almost sounding amused. "Somewhere between three and ten S-ranked shinobi, to our two. What of Kumo?"

He didn't really like where this was going. "Their kage, and two jinchuuriki. I also heard of a… Darui?"

"Yes, the raikage's right-hand," Hiruzen said. "That's four to our two. Iwa?"

"I don't really know. There's the kage, and two jinchuuriki, but apart from that they're too secretive."

"At least three, then. How do you feel about our position, having realized our situation?"

He thought about it, but it didn't really mean much to him. "The numbers mean nothing."

Never thought he'd say _that_.

"Oh?"

"It's like you said. There's no limitation in quality, and now you have me. It's about the individual shinobi, rather than how many we have."

Another flicker of wind, and he thought he caught a smile off the old man.

"I was speaking from an administrative standpoint when I said that, but I suppose you're right." He stopped to think, and Naruto let him. "I suppose I should mention that, if pushed, Gai is our strongest shinobi. We can't rely on him, though, and his strength isn't one that can be advertised."

As interesting and confusing as the idea of Gai being that strong was, he couldn't help but think they'd gone off on a tangent.

"You said I was in a useful position."

"You look like your father, used his jutsu, and defeated Orochimaru one-on-one. Dramatic, maybe, but even the idea of another Minato being around is going to scare other villages senseless." The hokage turned toward him pointedly. "I want you to stay within the village."

It took him a moment to get over the bluntness of the command and realize its depth. "You want me to stay within the village… for good?"

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded. "I already released details of your heritage to the public."

Naruto froze. "Y-you did what?! Why would- you really think that was necessary? I have _so many _secrets, that _need_ to stay-"

He paused, took a breath, and calmed. Being angry wouldn't solve anything. He was intensely aware of the hokage's guards fidgeting with their weapons.

"Yes, it was necessary," Hiruzen said, "and denying knowledge of your ancestry would let them know just as well. In releasing it to the public myself, I was able to eliminate any further speculation."

He groaned, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Go back a step… staying in the village. Give me a little more detail. Why is that necessary?"

The old man chuckled good naturedly. "Konoha may have the largest shinobi population, but with Jiraiya out of the village on a consistent basis – because we simply don't have any other shinobi that can do what he does without risk of being caught and interrogated – we have to keep the highest-proportion of our forces home, for defence, of any village. This is, in part, due to our habit of raising many sufficiently powerful shinobi but very few of quality. A larger population, unfortunately, works against us when it comes to the forces necessary to aptly defend our larger agriculture. Missions outside of Konoha frequently run into skirmishes and entire squads have just as frequently gone missing, but we can't afford to send out larger, stronger and better equipped teams of shinobi without pulling from patrols, or – what I would like to change – our defences."

Staying home to prevent an attack that would never come simply felt like a waste of his ability. "How many shinobi do you really need in defence of the village? Aside from a few days ago, I can't say we've been invaded for… well, a long time."

"It's less about defending ourselves, and more about the enemy needing men proportionate to our defences. The more power that stays in the village, the more power that needs to be brought against it."

"I get it." He hummed. "In that case, it's more about how strong they think I am, rather than how strong I really am."

Hiruzen nodded.

"…but I can just use the _Hiraishin_ to get here if we get attacked."

"It's about attack _prevention_. If we do get attacked, I'd rather keep the extra shinobi home."

"How will they even know if I'm gone?"

"Relying on incompetence is folly."

He sighed. "This is what pushed you to make my dad hokage, isn't it?"

"It is, but he qualified in many respects."

"And it did what you're saying my staying will do? It let you put more shinobi on missions without making Konoha obviously vulnerable?"

"It did."

"And when he died?"

Hiruzen grimaced. "Quite a bit was undone."

Naruto sighed. It was not as if it was a difficult choice, or that he was terribly against it, but it really felt like a whole lot was being attributed to what was almost _nothing_ in his mind.

"You told them that I was the jinchuuriki too, didn't you?"

A nod.

"Why am I not surprised?" he murmured.

Hiruzen shook his head. "You misunderstand the situation you put me in. Your burst of silver chakra caused quite the speculation, while your and Orochimaru's meddling with your seal mid-battle presented the easiest way to divert the truth."

"I see," he said stoically. In that case he could appreciate the meddling, but it would've been nice if he hadn't had to ask to find out.

He was an unknown before the invasion, in a sense. Some knew that he was a jinchuuriki, and some few followed his progress. Now, however – of his own machinations, even – he was known for defeating Orochimaru, during an invasion of the village that Orochimaru perpetrated, _after_ saving the hokage, _while_ using the _Hiraishin, and_ he was now known, universally, as not _only_ a jinchuuriki, but as the son of _Minato Namikaze_ and one of the few remaining Uzumaki.

At least he still had _some_ secrets, and really, he only had himself to blame… but he couldn't help feeling pretty good about what he'd done. It all evened out, really.

"Is that all?" he asked, gazing upward into the morning sun.

Ow, okay, don't look into the sun.

It would be noon soon; they had been talking for quite a while. "You have work to do, don't you? You always do." He managed to sound bland instead of annoyed, thankfully.

The hokage didn't answer right away. A range of emotions danced across the old man's face, and Naruto watched as he gazed searchingly over the village, pausing vaguely over the academy and tower.

"No."

In a twist of irony, the word held a hint of finality.

"Last thing?" Naruto asked. "Because I need to sit down, real soon. I just left the hospital and all, then this, yeah. Gotta rest."

Hiruzen looked down, and eventually nodded. "Last topic."

A moment passed. The figure of the hokage, standing atop the monument with hands clasped behind his back and his cloak occasionally rustling in the wind, seemed hesitant.

It didn't really fit.

"Well?"

He received a gaze that held a trace amount of, unless he was totally wrong, pity.

"I wanted to have _some_ good news for you, so I had blood tests performed."

Naruto blinked. That wasn't what he expected to hear. "Why?"

Hiruzen bowed his head. "Orochimaru's surviving lieutenant is an Uzumaki."

He froze.

"But," he continued quickly, "you're not related, as far as two people sharing the same bloodline can be unrelated. I suspect you were of different families, the Uzumaki was a rather vast clan as far as clans go."

Naruto frowned. Not related, not family, not _really_ his concern then, but…

Something in his head throbbed. He received some kind of impression, something to do with Uzushio. A glimpse of some of the many civilian families desperately trying to escape Uzushio during the invasion, and of those same people being cut down. Some few did survive, yet it was Naruto alone that took what was left of their heritage. Put that way, he did feel some small measure of responsibility, though that certainly _felt_ like some sort of manipulation.

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Her," Hiruzen corrected. "She's been somewhat cooperative, but given the situation? Her punishment is death. She personally took part in an attempt on my life, after all."

It didn't quite sit right with him. "What about the four hundred sand shinobi we captured?"

"A little more than five hundred, but many of them had surrendered after a certain point in the fighting. Of those, we spare most. We already executed the jounin, and the chunin that we suspected had the aptitude to replace them. We'll wring the rest for their knowledge and release them for the appropriate ransom."

Releasing only the weak and cowardly and killing the rest was cold, he thought, but necessary. Killing wasn't exactly something that should be done often, but he approved of the sentiment. It was a natural and necessary reaction, following invasion and the subsequent breaking of truces.

But regarding the Uzumaki, even if they were so distant as to be unrelated – whatever that meant, when they shared a bloodline – he wanted to at least talk to them first. He'd regret it if he didn't. Even if they just ended up being a jerk, he'd rather know that than not have met them.

"I want to see her."

The hokage nodded, but Naruto thought he could see a ghost of a frown on the man's face. "I would keep my expectation low, but you may. Be aware that directly after the blood testing, I signed off on her kill order. She is set to be executed as soon as T&I decide that she is a waste of resources to keep around." The hokage made a point of observing the rise of the sun, "I expect that she'll be alone for just a few more minutes before the next interrogation, and there isn't a lot left to gain from her."

He supposed that meant that he couldn't just leave it for tomorrow.

The old man made a gesture he couldn't interpret, and one of the ANBU split from the perimeter to move toward them, eventually – especially slowly – placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

It was Squirrel.

"_Ready?_" Squirrel asked. His voice was somewhat gruff and deeper than before, and Naruto belatedly realized that he was using a voice changer. Why wasn't he using one before? Or had he been?

"Just a moment," Hiruzen said. "Naruto."

"Yes?" They turned to face one another, Hiruzen's lips set in a grim line and Naruto's resting in a tight but tired half-smile.

"I and the village owe you for saving my life and restraining Orochimaru. _However_," he paused, and took a breath, "that gratitude will only go so far. The bounty has already been credited, and not just monetarily. In saying that, if you need a favour, do ask."

"I will, Hokage-sama."

The hokage waved haphazardly and he and Squirrel disappeared, leaving a puff of air and leaves in their wake.

The next few minutes, in comparison to the last, were rather quiet. Soothing.

"What's the bet," Hiruzen asked nobody in particular, "that he decides to keep her?"

No response. That was normal, unfortunately.

Some small, awful part of him hoped that Naruto would let the girl die, because it was a disgusting load of trouble and paperwork organising the opposite. He didn't hold a grudge against the girl; he too, had fallen for his student's manipulations.

He pulled out his pipe, already stuffed, lit it with a click of his fingers, and took a puff.

…if the kid ever showed some hint of serious, _real_ and _raw_ emotion, so much would be worth it. The boy's curiosity was normal, and his sense of duty was incredible – but how much of that was due to Minato's meddling? He cracks a joke every now and again, but he's hopelessly alone, and worst of all, prefers it.

He would do just about anything, to give this job to someone else for a change. Dealing with Naruto left him feeling like Danzo.

«««»»»

While Squirrel led him through a cheap hotel and later underground, Naruto was busy being simultaneously worried, paranoid, and more than a bit regretful for having chosen to come down here. He should have thought about it for just a moment more, and realized that, really…

He didn't have anything to say to another Uzumaki, and aside from that, they were a criminal anyway. They were here, down this eerily bright underground complex, for a reason. Someone that conspired with Orochimaru probably wasn't the kind of person that he'd get a good conversation from.

There was one other thing, too.

"Why is there two of you?"

The vague outline of his own shadow, splayed thinly along the passage beside and behind him, froze for a moment.

He'd noticed that the hokage had one or two more ANBU than usual but thought it normal considering the circumstances. He hadn't any reason at the time to think that they were following _him_.

Squirrel tilted his head back, Naruto amused himself by imagining that he was squinting, but Squirrel merely pointed at _him_ and turned back around. That wasn't very specific.

"Is this permanent?"

Squirrel gave a short nod.

Before he could harass the extra, a rather harried chunin bust out of a near door and rushed past them in a tizzy. Before he could even think to question it, it happened two more times in different directions.

T&I were evidently quite busy, and he understood that.

"Which are you then?" he asked his shadow.

He watched as his own shadow coalesced into one place and morphed into a three-dimensional rabbit, which waved at him. A Nara then, and pretty advanced too.

What would happen if he tried to use _Hiraishin _while locked into place by a Nara's shadow-binding? That was just one more thing to test, he supposed.

"Nice to meet you, Rabbit."

The cutesy little creature nodded, and his shadow momentarily reformed. He'd have to learn that skill that they were using to hide in his shadow sometime – the other ANBU had been using it too, so it probably wasn't a Nara hiden.

…he was trying and failing to distract himself, he knew.

"I think that this was a waste of time," Naruto murmured. "I mean, what was the point? The girl tried to kill the hokage. She's gonna die anyway. What am I even going to say?"

Was he always this indecisive? He didn't remember hesitating when he left Yamato, or when he met Team 8, or with Mizuki, or Zabuza, or when he saved the hokage and fought Orochimaru. So, what made something this innocuous so stressful?

Uzushio is what. This was probably the _only_ personal matter he could _ever_ remember having to deal with that had _anything_ to do with another person.

But it wasn't really personal, was it? They weren't related, so it doesn't count, right?

Squirrel tilted his head and almost seemed worried, but ultimately didn't make a sound. His shadow didn't so much as twitch out of place, and after a few minutes, his guide stopped by a door. A door that, really, looked very much like the hundreds they had already passed, and Naruto found himself wondering just how Squirrel knew which was which.

Squirrel stood himself beside it, and Naruto wasted time just _staring _at it.

There was a keypad. Was he supposed to know the code, or was Squirrel just screwing with him?

A twitch by his feet, and he stepped to the side just as someone – a chunky older chunin – would have run into him from the direction they came.

When it took the man more than fifteen seconds of staring at Squirrel to realize that something was afoot, he had to remind himself that the T&I department had good reason for being exhausted.

The chunin's gaze swapped to the door longingly for just a few seconds, before he turned to face him.

"Um, why are… sorry, no, who- oh, _you're-"_

The chunin facepalmed. "_Sorry_," he made a wavy, exaggerated hand motion, "been a long few days. You're here because… wait, I got it. You're Uzumaki, she's Uzumaki – wait, we _did_ the blood-tests already, and-"

When it was obvious that Naruto was going to let the chunin ramble, Squirrel politely coughed.

While he was still startled out of his thought-process, Naruto quickly made his move.

"I'd just like to talk to her for a few minutes," he said.

"Oh, of course!" The man grinned, happy to have solved the- "sorry, but we're running a tight ship. I've only got…" he fiddled with his clipboard, which Naruto hadn't noticed, and flipped through the first few pages. "A few minutes, myself, of questions for this one. After that, I was gonna, y'know," he dug through the pockets of his vest and pulled out a syringe, "_slip_ this into a vein, tick her off the board, and get that space opened up for the next one."

Before Naruto could even _attempt_ to interject, the chunin was already yammering.

"She's pretty lucky, though. I wouldn't worry about her, it's painless, humane. Come tomorrow, we won't even _have_ any of this stuff left. Y'know, we don't exactly keep enough of it prepared for bloody _hundreds_ of 'em to turn up in chains. The cleaning crew is going to be pretty busy over the next few days, blood is going to be _all over the-"_

"Stop."

"Sorry…" a _grin_, "been a long few days. You're here because… wait, I got it-"

He twitched.

"No humour? You kind of need one in this line of-"

"Just let me talk to them for _two_ minutes after you're done."

"Ah, well, she'll be kind of dead when I'm done. I thought I said that."

"Then do that afterward."

"It's _much_ harder when they know what you're doing. Trust me, that kind of thing, _much_ easier when they're busy trying not to answer your questions."

"You're not very accommodating." If his tone was threatening, he didn't really care.

Regardless, something in his words finally made something _click_ in the other man.

"Right, right, I'm _really_ sorry," this time, it seemed genuine, "it's just- you're _Naruto Uzumaki_! The big bad Snake Slayer, Saviour of Hokage, the Fourth Reborn and the Silver Flash! Oh, and you're the jinchuuriki. Go figure."

Naruto sighed miserably.

He smirked. "Of course, you can have your two minutes when I'm done. Just make sure to tell me if you're thinking about getting rid of that kill order, _before_ I kill her."

"I can do that," he said tersely. He wasn't usually so irritable, but after talking to _this_ man, after this particularly draining morning – he had _just_ left the hospital, in fact – and now about to go in for an assumed-to-be heavy conversation for very particular and personal reasons? He felt justified in feeling drained before it even began.

"I'd sure hope so," the chunin joked. He twisted around and spun through an obviously well-practiced sequence of buttons. "You can sit in the observing room," he said, gesturing toward the left as the door clicked open. "Microphone's off though, so it really is just an observing room," he said with a chuckle.

The door opened up to a short hallway with two left doors. The chunin set himself to whistling a jaunty tune and took the further door, so Naruto – with his shadow, but having left Squirrel outside – let himself into the nearer.

The small and short room was as plain as the rest of the compound, aside from the long desk and the machines that decorated its surface. The floor, walls and ceiling were of carved rock, with only power-outlets breaking up the soft monotonous grey. Doton was probably involved to some degree. The key difference between this room and the larger hallway, was the tall glass pane stretching from one end of the room to the other within the inside wall alongside the table. It was probably one-way. The connecting room was even less cluttered and just as boring, with just two chairs for comfort.

That's when he saw her, and it gave him a _throbbing_ headache.

He had _no_ idea when he'd activated Observe or Examine, and it took him a second to even notice the quest prompt.

«**Tayuya Uzumaki**»  
Tricked into service by Orochimaru after he murdered her parents,  
her sparse memories and propensity for chakra-intensive techniques  
is all that remains of her heritage.  
**Mood: **Vexed, Bored

**[****Tayuya Uzumaki****]****  
**«Prisoner»  
STR: 80  
AGI: 105  
INT: 80  
CHA: 35  
CHK: 0  
[Debuffs]  
[_Chakra Restriction_]

He swiped aside the quest prompt – it could wait a few seconds – and actually _looked_ at the damn girl.

The headache _grew_, if that was possible, and he received very vague and somewhat foggy impressions of a pair of teenagers doing _something_ in Uzushio. Not sure how he knew it was in Uzushio, but then again, all the strange little visions he'd had were about the place.

The girl's most striking aspect, which he found himself drawn to inexplicably, was her red – or dark pink? – hair. It was a shade or three lighter than his mother's hair had been, if not as well taken care of. It was, as far as he could tell, the first time he'd _ever_ seen a girl with red hair in person, and he couldn't help but be drawn to the sight. It was probably his impressions of Uzushio meddling with him, or god-forbid some obscure aspect of his heritage, but…

The rest of her was ordinary enough. She wore an oversized orange jumpsuit, probably designed to clash with the greys and whites and occasional greens of the rest of the base. Her wrists and ankles were locked into clamps connecting to the otherwise comfortable looking chair, and he couldn't help but notice the delicate scrawls of fuinjutsu over some parts of the structure, which were probably what blocked off her chakra. He vaguely wondered how she was meant to use the loo, but shut that thought down long before it could go anywhere.

Observation done, and to pass the time while the interrogator did his thing, he flicked the quest prompt back into view. He briefly wondered if the quest to save the hokage was completed and hidden somewhere in his backlog, but left following that thought for a time when he was less busy.

**Ascension [4]  
**«**The Stray**»  
It is possible, with the right design and the right subject,  
that chakra transference and absorption between Uzumaki  
could result in a greater tolerance for the Traveller's chakra.  
**Requirements:**  
1\. Rescue Tayuya  
2\. Design the correct seal  
3\. Force the seal on Tayuya (**Optional**)  
4\. Tayuya lets you use the seal (**Optional**)  
**Rewards:  
**+?

That's it then. He would have to do it, that's the way it always was with his qu-

_That wasn't my thought_, he realized, a vague sense of alarm making him eerie. Some large part of him desperately wanted to consider that _right now_, but he had to pace his battles.

The very idea of what the quest was claiming was almost absurd. According to his own understanding of transference seals, their use was much simpler and rather mundane compared to what was being insinuated… yet, as silly as it might've seemed, he couldn't help but _want_ to try designing a seal that could do whatever it was that the quest seemed to think could be done. He had a hell of a lot of know-how in his head and not of reasons to use it, and as much as he loved his TV, when his clones eventually began doing all of his training it would probably get boring. Maybe. Unlikely. It was a distinct, if slight, possibility.

He had to wonder though, at what point were the quests automatic – the system for that was so complicated he could scarcely understand what his father had done – and when were they coded individually by his father? Did his father try this? He hadn't exactly been an Uzumaki, but did he figure something out with his mother to help him use an extra bit of the stuff without having it – presumably – damage him?

…a better question, did Minato Namikaze even care if he had used too much? There had been _several_ pop-ups and quests that had insinuated his father's hand in them, and for him to know so much of the future, he _must_ have known that he was going to kill himself long before he did it.

That was a realization for later, he knew. Not when he was about to talk to a girl he still wasn't sure what to do with.

In fact, he didn't even know what she was like yet. For all he knew, she could be an aggressive, monstrous piece of shit.

…yeah, so he still had that headache, and he was tired, and his stomach still ached like crazy. So what. He didn't get breaks.

He was already being passive-aggressive. He had, in fact, had a week-long break of sorts in the hospital.

He watched, head pounding whenever he so much as _looked_ at the Uzumaki girl – and wasn't that just going to be _fantastic_ to deal with – as her interrogator clicked his pen and slipped out of his seat. Briefly, he almost seemed to be considering simply finishing her up then and there and saving them _all_ some time – and no, it surely wasn't Naruto's nerves saying that – but he eventually said something or other and instead made to leave the room.

He only had moments to consider the sheer confusion radiating off of Tayuya – presumably due to the chunin's parting words – before the door to the room burst open.

"In you go, make it quick. Schedule and all that."

He nodded his thanks and, before he could think twice, quickly left one room and entered the next.

The door clicked to a close behind him, the sound far harsher than it had any right to be, and he found himself face-to-face with the object of his concerns.

Bereft of the glass between them, meeting her walnut-brown gaze with his own was _soothing. _So much more comforting than it had any right to be. The headache subsided in a flash and he even felt the dregs of exhaustion fading.

He blinked. Something wasn't quite right.

Today was… strange.

«««»»»

"Hmmmm."

She struggled not to show just how uncomfortable his presence made her feel. From their first meeting, the first time she'd woken up following her stupid attempt at freeing her boss, _this_ man was the only one she'd talked to, or even seen.

It had been an ugly, slow and utterly degrading week. She desperately needed to stretch, had been given barely any food or water, and didn't even want to _think_ of one embarrassing aspect. _He_ was far too cheerful, way too underhanded, and talking with him was tiring, even when he wasn't actively trying to be tiring.

She would know; she'd always had the useless ability to glean vague impressions of emotions off of people within a certain distance.

"Alright, Tayuya. Thanks!" He- _Kensaku-sama_ he had called himself, though she wouldn't be caught dead saying it – clicked his pen and left his chair, languidly stretching in a way that she could only _wish_ to do right now. "Usually, I'd be saying goodbye right now. Y'know how it goes. But big-boss snake-slayer himself wanted to see you, so…" he tapped his nose, "see you in a bit!"

She caught a murmur as he fled to the door, "_I hope so anyway. The paperwork would _suck _otherwise_."

She scrunched her nose. What was _that_ supposed to mean? Also, _snake-slayer_? Couldn't be any worse than-

_Clack_.

The door had already shut by the time she registered that it had opened.

She pursed her lips. She knew this one, and the vague sense of emotion wafting off of him was just _weird_. Initially super irritated and _maybe_ nervous – the second one was always kind of hard to detect, it being a mish-mash of several half-hearted emotions – the blond kid that had beaten up Orochimaru was just standing there, _staring_ at her, and all she could feel coming off him now was some disgusting sense of relaxed adoration.

"Can I help you?" she asked, terse and tense. She watched – or rather, felt, because he wasn't very outwardly expressive – as her words shocked him out of stasis.

The adoration tapered off as soon as his gaze switched off of hers, replaced with a deep welling of frustration, a little bit of confusion, and some annoyance. Weird.

"Right, sorry." His voice was softer and less… well, threatening than she thought it might be. She watched as he considered the empty chair for a moment, before apparently opting to stand. He wasn't planning on staying long, then. Good, she shared the sentiment.

He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, and Tayuya couldn't help but wish, once again, that she could move so freely. There were many things to hate about such strict confinement.

She didn't miss that he pointedly avoided her gaze, looking somewhere behind her. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions."

She didn't know when she'd started holding her breath, but she let it out all the same. _That's_ what he wanted? Bitch, she'd been answering questions all _week_. She was built for this. She was _ready_.

He'd apparently taken her silence as an okay.

"Do you remember your parents?"

She groaned.

"There you go, just assuming my parents are dead." She'd already answered this question, how boring. "They both died well over seven years ago. There's nobody to contact. No ransom, no family, no shits given." She couldn't help but scowl. "Fuck, what a disgusting first question."

His face didn't even move. No comment on her abrasive nature at all. She pouted. She _could_ feel some kind of surprise from him, but it just wasn't the same as a real reaction.

"Do you remember their names?" he asked softly.

She _hated_ the way he asked that, she _hated_ the way he locked eyes with her when he said it, and she _hated_ the rush of affection that it drew from him. He was some kind of sick perv or something. The sooner he left the better, and the sooner they released her so that she could make as much distance between them as possible, the greater.

"No," she answered, with a sour tone that she'd admit wasn't entirely due to her dislike of the blond kid. "I called them 'Mum' and 'Dad', what do you expect? I was _seven_."

Maybe she was being too hostile, but then again, she was tied up in a chair with a pervert leering over her and she hadn't had any real sleep for a week.

His gaze didn't let up, as if he was slowly figuring something out. The affection slowly transformed into satisfaction. It made her distinctly uncomfortable.

After a few seconds, he shifted his gaze back to the wall behind her and seemed far too smug.

"Umeka Uzumaki, right? That'd be your mother."

The name utterly familiar in a way few could be, she _completely_ froze up.

"And… Tanyu. I don't think he was actually an Uzumaki, or even had a surname, but he _did_ visit Uzushio at some point or other. Real smitten, the two of them. Pretty young too, when that year's chunin exams-" he was going to relish in his next words, she could feel it, "-ended in an invasion which killed the rest of your mother's side of the family."

She tried to say something, but her mouth – or her mind – just wasn't ready to co-operate.

_Stop trying to speak_, she thought. _Just think_.

The names he so casually dropped resonated with her. She knew the names once, or had at least heard them enough times, but they were names she'd long forgotten.

But why would he even tell her that? No, scratch that – how the fuck did he find _any_ of that out? Some of it was too specific. They'd been dead for _seven years_, and that small town that she'd lived in with them? Ash. It was consumed by the same fires that, somehow, had claimed her family.

Once upon a time, she hadn't believed that her mother and father – _Umeka_ and _Tanyu_, she corrected with some wonder – could have died to something as pedestrian as a house-fire. She'd learned how easy death was in the years since and lost that attitude.

"What do you want?" she asked, her tone bereft of the anger that she had previously let colour it.

She'd be neutral for the rest of the conversation, she decided, if he didn't bother her too much. It occurred to her that she had already been trying rather desperately not to offend, because she wasn't exactly in the strongest position, but she'd try just a little bit harder.

He scratched his cheek idly, thinking as if he hadn't yet considered what he wanted from her. She doubted that.

"Some remorse or regret, maybe."

"For what?"

"For trying to do the same thing to Konoha as Kiri did to our families."

"I didn't-" the words sunk in, suddenly, and she short-circuited. "_You're_ an Uzumaki?!"

Apprehension. "Yes, but-"

"That makes so much sense!" Tayuya laughed, almost hearing the _click_ as her thoughts connected. "I was so lost. I was wondering how the hell you knew that stuff. Now that, _that_ makes more sense! Why didn't you start with that? Damn, if we're related, then you can-"

He politely coughed, and she paused. He was embarrassed… _for_ her? "We're not related. Sorry."

She _needed_ that out. She could get along with him if she had to. "What do you mean we're not related?"

He shrugged, and her fledgling hopes died with the drop of his shoulders. "They've already done the blood tests. Bloodlines like the Uzumaki go way back. You're probably no more related to me than I am to the hokage."

"But… but…"

Her thoughts caught up to her. Why had she so suddenly jumped onto the idea of being related to the shitty little pervert?

She didn't want to consider that what she knew, deep within her subconscious, was true. That they'd sooner kill her than release her. She couldn't think that way. She _wouldn't_ give into that mentality.

She groaned. "So, what? You just came here to boast? 'Hi! Yeah, so, I'm an Uzumaki too, but I can't help you. Look how different we are! I'm a Leaf nin, and you're tied to a chair! Isn't that funny? Haha!'"

Pity. She didn't want it, but she could feel it.

"Just…" one of her bangs fell across an eye, and she blew it out of the way, "leave, if you don't wanna help."

He didn't leave, or at least not right away.

She didn't really know what to think of him. Outside of her restraints, she would probably be terrified of meddling with the kid that beat up Orochimaru. When she already had nothing to lose? Eh, fuck'im. He was proving pretty resilient to her taunts, though.

"What's your name?" she asked, before her own words really caught up with her. Did she really care what his name was? No.

"Naruto."

"Lame."

Another silence.

He seemed about to leave, which didn't really inspire any emotion in her. Good riddance.

But right before he did, when they locked eyes – _again_ – she _didn't_ feel that disgusting sense of adoration. He winced, and he resonated _pain_, like he had been struck with a migraine. He turned away from her, but she could only feel the sensation become more intense.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He almost seemed to growl as he turned back to face her, but she didn't get the impression that he was angry at _her_.

Still, tread lightly.

"What would you do," he asked, tone reflecting irritation, "if you were released?"

A heavy question. One that inspired hope, but one she had to be careful answering.

But she had made a promise, so the answer depended on another.

"I need to know where my friend is."

"Who?"

The question was asked too quickly. "Uh…" could this be used against her? Probably not, she conceded, since they already had her tied up. "Her name was Kin, she was one of the kids that Orochimaru was," she paused and wet her tongue, "_sacrificing_ for the fight with the hokage."

He whispered something to himself, too quietly for her to hear. With the tap of his foot a couple seconds later, she felt another spike of irritation, mixed in with a bit of pity. He still had his headache, she noticed.

"Dead."

Her head fell. "Oh." She didn't have it in her to question how he knew, given that he'd already proven to know some strange things.

"The thing is, Tayuya," she noticed that he was trying to sound less confrontational, "you _can't_ be released. You didn't just attack Konoha, but you tried to kill the hokage. There's no way to navigate around that, at least not in the short-term."

It was almost relaxing to hear the facts, she realized, even as the welling of apprehension filled her gut.

"The old man would be pissed if I just _asked_ to let you go," he said, apparently emboldened by her silence.

Given the context, she could only assume that 'old man' referred to 'hokage' and almost snickered despite herself. Maybe she was just going loopy.

"_Hell_, it wouldn't just be the old man-"

"Are you done?" she interrupted. If she was really going to experience her end in this room, she'd rather as little memory of the kid here as possible. "I love hearing about _all_ the reasons I'm going to die here, _thanks _dickhead."

He cringed, said "yeah, I'm done," and turned back to the door. His hesitance, and the strange spikes of pain and irritation he radiated while doing so, made the action pretty damn memorable if nothing else.

She was struck with the thought that, somehow, with him went her chances. "_Wait!_"

He waved haphazardly, and then; Naruto was gone. The door slammed shut before she'd even noticed it open. Déjà vu.

After a long moment where he assuredly did _not_ come back, she swore.

"Fuck me," she groaned, smacking her head back into the plush cushioning of the chair. She'd much rather to have avoided that entire confrontation, learning her parent's names notwithstanding.

She couldn't help but wonder, had she fucked up? Was that her chance?

It didn't matter, she decided. What happened, happened.

«««»»»

"_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._"

He'd fucked it up. His _head_ fucked it up. What the hell was wrong with him?

_What was he meant to do?_

He ignored whatever the interrogator said as he went back into the observing room, and the chunin left to presumably finish up.

He should just leave. He should just flash back to Uzushio and tear the damned seal into pieces. His head was doing its very hardest to get him on that girl's side, and he did _not_ like it.

He was being very blatantly manipulated by the seal, more so than ever before, and it was pissing him off.

"Shit. _Shit. _Shit!"

He didn't know what to do.

Look at her, thinking he'd try to help?

_Bliss_.

Look at her, thinking he'd let nature take its course? Let her get her due consequences?

He felt like _he_ was going to die, and the headache that made him feel that way was _still there, because that's the way he was leaning!_

She was a terrible person, or at least, she hadn't proved otherwise. He'd tried to incite a response toward the end, but _nothing_. Not a shiver of regret, or even some left-over false apology for her actions. She only wanted out. He doubted it even crossed her mind. If anything, she was very clearly trying to manipulate him, and he figured pretty quickly that she had some kind of ability to tell, at least vaguely, what he'd been feeling. He could see the disgust cross her face whenever his brain tried to overload him with good feelings, and he could only imagine how it must've seemed from her perspective. It worked against her, in a way; looking disgusted whenever he considered helping her.

It was difficult to look objectively at a situation that the seal was trying its hardest to make biased.

On one-hand, leaving her to die would probably cut down on the seal's manipulation in the future, or at least until he had another look at the seal and put a halt to that _incredibly_ stupid function. As well, she was here by her own actions. The consequences weren't any harsher for her than they'd been for many of the Suna shinobi.

On the other, she was an Uzumaki. She was a bit of an asshole, and her attitude – as much as she hid what he was sure were the most vile components – blatantly clashed with his. Problem being, it was her heritage – just as much as it was his – that gave him the power that put him in this situation. Was it really right for him, who only had the opportunity to stop her death _because_ of that, to have her die?

He hesitated, because she deserved what was coming.

That's when he remembered the subtle manipulations of the quest, and the way he almost blindly accepted. He realized it had happened against Orochimaru too, but he just hadn't been of the mindset to question it, even though he had eventually decided that becoming hokage was too much trouble during his stay in the hospital.

He could see Tayuya struggling through the glass, until the seals on her chair flashed nefariously, and she froze. Nasty fuinjutsu.

He shouldn't.

**New Quest!  
**«**Save Tayuya!**»  
Save Tayuya!  
**Requirements:  
**1\. Save Tayuya!  
**Rewards:  
**[Skill Revealed!] [Skill Evolution!]  
[New Skill!] [New Skill!]

A quest! That's it then, look at those rewards! He would-

_He wouldn't_. This feeling, this quest – it cemented it.

It wasn't Tayuya's fault that he was being manipulated, he knew, but it _is _the girl's fault that she's in this mess. She wasn't his responsibility, no matter who or what told him that she was.

Looking back, his easy acceptance of these things had been foolish, in a way that _couldn't_ be natural. He hadn't denied many quests, and though some of them were things he would have done anyway, there was no way he shouldn't have questioned them more than he had. This… lack of control, had clearly been a part of him for a long time.

No, no. He was being paranoid. Of all quests, this was one of the easiest, the simplest – there was no reason to stop _now_ of all tim-

_That isn't my thought,_ it wasn't the way he felt at all. His blood ran cold, and he felt distant. He had _no_ idea the seal's influence sunk that deep, its reach that far. Was he unable to trust even his own mind? Something similar had happened with _both_ quests to rescue Tayuya _and_ the quest confirming Orochimaru's words, but it was more reflexive and less jarring.

That only meant that he was used to it.

His entire life, he had been treated like some character in a video game, he realized, with a predetermined, if often dramatic, path. He had walked when asked and talked when told do. He had been driven to the point where he honestly _wanted_ to kill, to 'level up' and get stronger so that he could kill _more_ – and it could be said that his thirst for strength was instilled by the seal as well, he truly didn't know anymore.

His thoughts, unlocked and unbound by a wild storm of epiphany, catapulted toward their natural conclusions.

He had been tricked into becoming a shinobi. His actions had been controlled from the moment that he could move. His thoughts had been tightly regulated from the moment that he could think. His father had seen the future and tailored a program to control him in response to it. He had sacrificed his own life, and his wife's, just so that he could sacrifice his son's.

Minato Namikaze was just a fucking madman… unless he predicted _this_, in which case, he was being used no matter what he did.

His nails drew blood, but he hadn't even been aware that his hands were clenched. A lack of control.

He had to draw a line in the sand.

**Quest Failed!**


End file.
